


Celestial Temptation

by remainingexogirl



Category: EXO (Band)
Genre: Drama & Romance, Forbidden Love, M/M, Mentioned Other K-pop Artist(s), Other Fandoms Not Mentioned in Tags, Other Ships Not Mentioned in Tags
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2018-11-14
Updated: 2018-12-14
Packaged: 2019-08-23 12:21:16
Rating: General Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 14
Words: 22,314
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/16618862
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/remainingexogirl/pseuds/remainingexogirl
Summary: Where two individuals get themselves wrapped up in an unlawful affair, Chanyeol and Baekhyun fall in love as the world is against them. As to what is separating the two from being together is the planets between them.





	1. Solar Government System

Due to overpopulation, researchers did everything they could to fix the ongoing issue. The famous scientific research to bring human life into Mars was a one that had to be accomplished at this point. They worked in close details to make the atmosphere human friendly. It started with obtained oxygen rather than none in general. Once a solution was discovered, scientist got to work. It started with growing vegetation in order to ensure that humans have resources. Later delving into bringing actual life onto Mars by starting with a monkey. After a successful outcome, they anxiously brought the first human on Mars. They strive to bring life there and, finally, managed to achieve it. Although bringing human life on Mars was a big achievement, they advanced further into the study. After Mars, it was Mercury then Venus then the entire solar system. By the year 6104, scientist confirmed Neptune, their last planet, being ready to be settled on.

Gathering together, presidents and leaders worldwide came into agreement to segregate the planets by occupation. After long discussion and planning, everyone began their journey in a rocket to the planet that best fit with tattoo on their right index fingers, signifying their location. Children were to follow with their parents in hopes that they will assimilate to their parent’s occupation.

Mercury is the Planet of Medicine. Medication, surgery, and clinical practices would be taken place here. All planets have small clinics for minor injuries, viral infection, and vaccinations. Anything that would require more complex health care would have patients be stabilized and transported to Mercury for treatment. This planet contained doctors, nurses, surgeons, pharmacist, etc.

Venus is the Planet of Business. The planet ran off of major companies for mass production. Creation of new companies, products, and facilities starts in Venus. Their population consisted mostly of successful entrepreneurs, CEO, and business worker.

Earth is the Planet of Explorer. Occupations that require constant travel such as worldwide food critic, anthropology, archaeologist, etc. are located here. Citizens are traveling in and out of their planets frequently for long periods of time that the population is consistently changing.

Mars is the Planet of Corruption. Prisoners mainly roam around this planet. Those who have committed any sort of crimes are relocated here until further notice. Citizens will be quarantined and supervised until release. Unlike other planets, the citizens who serve time on Mars have the option to move back to their original planet but their Mars tattoo will remain.

Jupiter is the Plant of Production, where agriculture and mass production takes place. While Venus think of new inventions and development, Jupiter creates and distributes. Crops and livestock are raised here to produce ingredients of food.

Saturn is the Planet of Justice. Anyone who is part of the law force reside here. Judges, police force, lawyers. Every planet does have a police force for minor cases like traffic, neighbor complaints, harassment, etc. They also respond for cases that require immediate attention that would need to protect citizens. For more serious crimes that would involve high powered technology like murder or robbery, the crime scene investigators will be transported. Alongside are judges who make the decisions for any Mars relocation. They choose the duration in Mars, quarantine establishment, and decisions afterwards.

Uranus is the Planet of Thinker. Citizens who study human behavior or meaning would be located here. They are good at working with people. If other citizens need someone to listen to or need guidance, they will be transported to Uranus to get the help they want.

Neptune is the Planet of Creativity. The population consisted of those who work for the arts. Visual arts, music, literature, culinary are a few to name. The planet is often a tourist spot due to street art, performance, and delectable food. They are known as the happiest planet in the entire solar system due to the outgoing and bright streets of Neptune.

Lastly, Pluto is the Plant of Political Power. The leaders of each planet reside here as they create, add, and remove rules and expectation from each planet. Not much is known from Pluto since other citizens are not allowed into this planet for a long duration of time. Only those approved of relocations came to remove and receive their tattoos.

Children in later generation learned that their parent’s occupation was unfit to them. They didn’t find the passion in what their parents did. Leaders originally thought that by being in an environment with one occupation, that any newborns would adapt to it or want to stay with their parents. After long debate, that had to be changed. Those who choose to pursue another career were given a chance to relocate but with the permission of government officials for any relocation. To prevent multiple relocations, students spend the majority of high school exploring each planet and their career choice.

It took some time for the government to make concrete laws. Some that certain planets don't agree with it. Although there was one law that most agreed with.

**Article VI, Section II**

**You must marry within your planet. There is no exception to this rule. All citizens at birth will be tattooed with their planet unless of relocation in which it will be changed before arrival to new planet. If married before relocation, divorce will be enforced.**

Initially, citizens were not fond of being separated from their spouse due to this law. Children were taken away from one parent and some parents were left with nothing. After some time, they agreed to the separation and later remarried those within their planet. The first generation of the change has long passed and newer generations have followed this rule ever since.

No one really thought of this to be an absurd law. Not until two individual experience the problem to this themselves. Two individuals coming from planet Venus and Neptune.  

 


	2. Venus

Baekhyun walks around his house's garden pond. Crouching down, he stares at his reflection, observing his beautiful features. At least that's what people say about him. He starts with his droopy almond shaped eyes. Traveling to his button nose then to his pair of rosy bud lips, his small lips curled into a smile while he watches himself touch the fairness of his skin. His dyed blonde hair moves softly with the wind. He stares at his feminine fingers as he drags them across the surface of the water, watching his reflection ripple with the movement his fingers took.

"Baekhyun," someone shouts for him in the distance. Looking up, he spots his best friend prance over to him. Luhan wears a simple white sweater with light jeans, complimenting his angelic presence. Baekhyun always sees Luhan being more beautiful than him. He has large doe eyes that balance out his small nose and lips. Baekhyun has always been jealous of Luhan. He did manage to snatch the attention of one of his past love.

Luhan gets closer and closer to him and grabs Baekhyun by the arm. With the sudden contact from warm fingers, his attention is brought back.

"Hurry, Baekhyun! Yifan is here," Luhan drags him out of his spot, dragging him inside the house. Baekhyun attempts to keep up with Luhan but the older harshly pulls. They enter his house and he see Yifan, his fiancé.

Yifan smiles at the sight of Baekhyun. His attention shifts to Luhan. "You found him, Luhan," Yifan looks over to Baekhyun, "I've been looking for you,” Yifan reach for his hands to gently gasp them. He stares into Baekhyun’s eyes lovingly with a shy smile. “I wanted to take you out tonight."

Baekhyun stands in silence as he avoids eye contact with Yifan to avoid the look of disappointment. "I'm sorry. My friends and I get together every Monday," Baekhyun rejects and makes a lame excuse. He glances over to Luhan, noticing the questionable look in his face. Luhan begins to retort before he made eye contact with him. Fortunately, he understands.

"He's right! Sorry for taking him away. It must’ve completely left my mind," Luhan interrupt. Baekhyun can detect the dishearten mood from Yifan. He lets go of his hands and lets out a sigh.

“Could you possibly skip this one time? I would like to get to know you, Baekhyun,” Yifan’s eyes plead for acceptance. “You always seem to reject most of my offers for a date. Can’t you just skip this one time?”

“I can’t, Yifan. It’s a tradition. I live by it rather religiously,” Baekhyun tries to reason with him. He finally looks at Yifan face. He feels guilty for the Chinese man as he observes his face slowly fall into a deep frown. He trudges to the door and whispers to have fun softly enough for only Baekhyun to hear. He shuts the door behind him.

Luhan waits to ensure Yifan was out of earshot before approaching Baekhyun. "Why didn't you accept his offer? This is the fifth time already. You should be with him more often," Luhan pauses but proceed to continue shortly after, "is this about Sehun? You should really get over him. You have a fiancé for goodness sake."

Baekhyun laughs at Luhan's comment. He grips on Luhan's shoulder and shakes his head. "No, it's not about Sehun. You should know that I’m over the guy since we graduated high school. I just don't want to be with him," Baekhyun says.

"Why not? Yifan is a great guy."

"He is but not the one for me. You know I'm only forced to marry to him for my parents. They just want to join forces with the Wu's."

Luhan shrugs Baekhyun's hand off his shoulder and plops down on the couch behind him.

"I just don't want him to get his hopes up. He doesn't deserve the harsh reality of me not loving him," Baekhyun sits next to Luhan, turning his body towards him and placing his left leg on the couch and his right on top. He rests his arms on the backrest and place his head on his arm.

"You can always try!"

"He's not my type, Luhan."

"He doesn't have to be your type in order for you to befriend him."

Baekhyun sighs, "Luhan, just drop it."

"I just don't get it, Baekhyun," Luhan cranes his neck back, positioning his head on the top of the backrest. "You're going to get married to him either way. This is not like your soap operas where you can magically find a way out. Just spend some time with him, get to know him, be friendly with him. You're going to be living in the same house as him. Let him be a friend, not a stranger you're married to." Luhan exclaims in frustration. “At least give him a chance, Baekhyun.”

Baekhyun lets out another sigh. He closes his eyes and breathes out a fine. "I will the next time he asks."

"Good," Luhan smiles. "Now we can drop it."

They sit in silence. Baekhyun in deep thoughts about his marital status. He's never been fond of the idea of marrying some stranger. He always imagines being with someone he loved. He was hoping that he would get lucky like how his brother Minseok did. That didn't happen as Baekhyun has always been the prettier sibling. While Minseok gets to focus on taking over the business, Baekhyun gets set up for marriage. When he entered high school, Baekhyun developed his first crush on Sehun. All Baekhyun knew about Sehun was that Sehun was going to be his husband. Well that’s what Baekhyun dreamed of at least. The dream was tarnished once he realized that Sehun had an obvious attraction towards his oblivious best friend. Shortly after moving on from his crush, his parents dropped the marriage proposal to him. The Wu’s were well known for having a one of the leading medical firms in Venus. They owned hospitals all around Solar System, one of the biggest being in Mercury. It was inevitable from the Byun’s pharmaceutical firm to want to work together. It sadly meant that Baekhyun would have to give up his dream of marrying someone he loved.

Baekhyun, deep in thought, heard a distant voice calling for him.

“Hey, are you listening to me?” Luhan grabs onto Baekhyun’s shoulder and slightly shakes it. Baekhyun lifts his head to meet eyes with Luhan.

“I’m sorry. What did you say?” Baekhyun rubs his head in embarrassment as Luhan rolls his eyes towards him.

“Are you ready for the trip to Neptune? Joonmyun and Sehun both said that they are packed and ready.”

“Yeah, I am. Minseok is too. It’s all he’s been talking about at the dinner table for the past month,” Baekhyun laughs slightly as he thinks back to his brother. “I guess he’s just really excited for all of the arts.”

“I mean I am too. It’s amazing what some people are able to do there. They create such marvelous pieces from their creative mind. It’s fascinating really.” Luhan goes back to laying his head on his arm. He sighs and closes his eyes, imaging the trip in front of him. “When are we leaving?”

“Exactly a week from now. We’re leaving next Monday.”

“I can’t wait.” Luhan smiles in blissfulness.

Baekhyun and Luhan sit in silence as they think about what awaits them in Neptune. Visiting the bright blue planet that’s six planets down has been their dream. Baekhyun always remembers having such fond memories visiting the planet when they were juniors in high school. The streets were alive, colorful, full of imagination. Baekhyun himself has thought of relocating there if he had the choice. He’s secretly been interested in singing and would’ve rather majored in music but he knew his parents wouldn’t approve of it. Minseok may be taking over the business when the time comes but he has to be able to perform in the business. As much as he wants to take on performing arts, he has to focus on familial duties.

Baekhyun lets a sigh and closes his eyes as he gets carried away into his dreams. The dream he wishes was a reality.  


	3. Neptune

The bird chirp outside his window, signaling him to wake up. Chanyeol slowly open his eyes, allowing the sunlight to seep into his vision. He gradually brings himself into a sitting position and stretches out his long legs. He looks around his messy room full of unfinished compositions. His floor entirely covered in music scores. Chanyeol checks to see that it was ten in the morning. He widens his eyes in surprise as he was late with meeting up for his project with his composing partner. He swings his legs over the bed, touching the cold floor and dashes towards his bedroom door. On his way to the bathroom, he constantly steps on music sheets. He attempts to brush his teeth while putting on his attire for the day and nearly trips to slide on his jeans. He spits the toothpaste out of his mouth and plays around with his hair until he thinks it was presentable. After completing his usual morning routine, he runs downstairs and sees Yura, his sister, reading the newspaper and sipping on coffee. Chanyeol runs to the dining table to grab a piece of toast that was prepared by her and heads towards the door. His sister, on the other hand, didn’t allow him to leave just yet.

“Where are you going?” She puts down her newspaper and makes eye contact with her younger brother, noticing the backpack that has hanging off one shoulder. “It’s Saturday. You don’t have school today.”

“Yixing and I have a composition assignment to do. We just want to get most of it out of the way,” Chanyeol quickly says to his sister, hoping she’ll get the message that he has in a hurry. Yura nods and goes back to reading the newspaper.

Chanyeol scurries out of the house and runs to his university where Yixing should be waiting for him in the studio. He arrives shortly after and sees Yixing writing on a score sheet. He looks up to Chanyeol and softly smiles at him.

“Sorry for being late. I overslept,” Chanyeol shyly laughs as he walks over to him. Putting his backpack on the table where Yixing was starting on their composition, he takes out any necessary items.

“Don’t worry about it. I didn’t get here that long ago,” Yixing again, smiles softly at Chanyeol. He has always been an angel and treats everyone so kindly. He was just so pure and so kind that he sometimes contemplates about Yixing actually being one.

“So, I’ve started the introduction to the song and I’m just about ready to go to in the verse. Any ideas?” Yixing gestures over to the score sheet placed in front of him. He observes the notes, trying to imagine what the piece would sound like He hums through all of the notes and attempts to think of ideas on what to add next.

“Well from what I got in my head, it sounds like you’re leaning more towards a ballad route,” Yixing nods as he explains the piece in more depth.

The two worked hard on getting most of what they could get done. They manage to reach to the verse, the bridge, and the chorus. After the score was finished, the two decided to get started on adding lyrics to it. By the time it reached five, they decide to finish the rest next week as both Yixing and Chanyeol yawned from exhaustion from staring at music notes all day.

Chanyeol neatly placed all of the scores and writing utensil in his backpack. He throws his backpack over his shoulder, waving Yixing a goodbye as they go their separate ways. 

The sky outside was still blue and the air was slightly cooler than the morning. He walks away from his university and continue straight on the path. As he strolls his way down town, he takes in all of the art around him. He sees sidewalk visual artist getting paid to have portraits quickly drawn, sculptural pieces decorating the streets of Neptune, sidewalk performers, and much more. It’s truly a sight to see and it’s what makes Chanyeol proud to be a citizen of Neptune. He wouldn’t have it any other way.

Continuing down the street, he locates his father’s restaurant from a distant. He walks closer to the restaurant and opens the door to be greeted with a fancy environment. His sister is manning the front, taking people to their seat. She glances up to Chanyeol and looks straight down, clearly knowing Chanyeol’s intention for being here. He walks to the kitchen and gets greeted by the heavy smell of meats being cooked and seasoned, the constant chatter between chefs, and the sound of contact between metal pots and pans. He always likes walking into his family kitchen as it gives him a sense of home. He spots his mother near the refrigerator and greets her with a hug. She returns the greeting and begins to drag him to the work station.

Both of his father and mother take interest in the culinary arts. They meet through multiple classes from their university days and developed a restaurant together as a symbol of their love for one another. The restaurant started off as their restaurant but once Yura got older and needed a job, they decided they wanted the restaurant to become a family business. Chanyeol spends his time at the restaurant in the kitchen, receiving culinary lessons from his parent. Although he would rather spend his shift in the kitchen learning, he would sometimes serve tables if the dining room gets overly crowded.

Chanyeol ties an apron around his waist and waits for further instruction from his mother. She is often the one who teaches him the ways to cooking, his father taking over sometimes. Chanyeol values his parents. His parents were his ultimate role model on not only developing more knowledge on the arts, but with life in general. He could always rely on them when he is under pressure with anything.

Once the restaurant came to a close, the Park family were the only one left to clean up. The family turn on music to liven up the mood on the boring task. Smiles and laughs would fill the atmosphere as they have a small karaoke session. When arriving home after cleaning the restaurant, Chanyeol lay in bed, releasing a sigh and closing his eyes, anticipating another day to come. Smiling on what tomorrow may possibly bring him. 


	4. Trip

Baekhyun fiddles with his finger as he waits for other passengers to board the rocket. He strokes the tattoo on his right index finger that laid a symbol of Venus. Tattooed on him since birth, this was to make sure people were following the marriage law. It’s easy to lie about where you came from but it’s difficult to when something is inked into your skin. His tattoo was the alchemist symbol of Venus which was a circle with a plus attached to the bottom.

He ended up not seeing Yifan until the day of his trip in where he wanted to send him off. Baekhyun felt bad for leaving Yifan by himself but this is time for Baekhyun to relax and enjoy Neptune as much as he can. Thoughts of his fiancé just stresses him out.

He looks out the window and takes one last look of Venus before he was able to see it again two months from now.

“Attention passenger, this is your pilot speaking. We are about ready to board the rocket. Please face forward for an instruction of our safety guide.” Baekhyun obeys the pilot to face the stewardess ahead of them. He looks over to his brother Minseok and notice the excited smile on his face. His large eyes express sheer excitement as his lips couldn’t stop curving upwards in a smile. Baekhyun describes his relationship with his bother as the person that he’s closest too. Minseok was Baekhyun’s support system as Baekhyun can come to him for advice. He always considers every perspective no matter how far they are from his own morals. From understanding him and giving out advice, Baekhyun can always rely on Minseok.

Baekhyun leans back on his chair and prepares himself for the strenuous lift off. He hears laughter coming from his far right, noticing that it was Luhan’s. Minseok and Baekhyun decided to sit in the two-people seat column since Minseok wanted to be with his little brother. Luhan, Sehun, and Joonmyun sat in the three-seaters placed in the middle of the aircraft. He watches Luhan laugh at whatever Sehun said, watching Sehun’s child-grin appear on his face.

Upon meeting Sehun, his face was very youthful. Maybe it was his hair and the extra baby fat that made Sehun look like a child but over the years, Sehun’s feature has matured to be very masculine. His almond eyes give out a fierce look, his tall nose, and perfect pair of lips. Sehun was a walking Greek sculpture in Baekhyun’s eyes. Baekhyun’s crush on Sehun didn’t last long when he noticed that the tall male had display obvious interest towards his best friend. From all the stares, the attachment, the look in his eyes, it’s truly a wonder how Luhan hasn’t noticed.

Joonmyun, a family friend of Minseok and Baekhyun, was focused on the magazine that the rocket has for them to look over for entertainment. The best way Baekhyun could explain about Joonmyun was simple. He had such soft features to go along with his soft personality. He was smart, admirable, someone to look up to. Baekhyun was envious of Joonmyun for inhabiting such traits. Baekhyun sighs as he thinks about Joonmyun feeling the same way about him.

Baekhyun felt the rocket move slightly, breaking his train of thoughts. Leaning back on the seat, he watches Minseok bouncing on his seat.

“Minseok, calm down,” Baekhyun places his hand on top of Minseok’s, leaning his head on the head rest and closing his eyes. He senses the seat next to him stop from movement. Taking a large breath, he prepares for the bumpy ride of the rocket to go into space.

Once the rocket was flying smoothly through space, Baekhyun took this chance and allow himself to lull into relaxation.


	5. Chapter 5

After the rough landing of the rocket, the Venus resident immediately begins their journey around Neptune after settling in their hotel room. Baekhyun and Luhan travels the street of Neptune together. Baekhyun points out all of the artwork scattered over the street.

“Luhan, look at this!” he points excitedly to another artwork that was chalked on the sidewalk. Baekhyun looks at the portrait that decorate the concrete with color. The details on the portrait were remarkable. It was of a lady with long brunette hair and light brown eyes. The portrait is a scene out of a drama where she was turning around and her hair flying around her face.

A hand on his shoulder took his attention away from the chalk work. He looks over to see Luhan, gasping for air.

“Baekhyun, I can’t keep up with you. Slow down, will you?” Luhan demands. Baekhyun nods in agreement but continues to run away looking at more of the works. As he walks down the street, he notices a crowd.

“Luhan look at that. What do you think that could be?” Baekhyun asks while pointing at the huge mass of people. Luhan shrugs and starts his journey over there. Baekhyun following closely behind him. They approach the crowd but couldn’t see what was in the middle. Luhan took the effort to start lightly pushing over people and muttering excuse me. They heard music once they were advancing to the front. Eventually, the two made it to the middle in where they see a dancing figure.  

He was dancing with grace, expressing every emotion through movement. The music helps with the emotion but at this point, it was only background music. He was flawless. His sun kissed skin, fluffy brown hair, his sculptured facial feature screaming perfection.

He was entranced by the dancing figure and couldn’t tear his eyes away from him. His moves were swift and graceful. “Beautiful, right?” Baekhyun looks over to the new voice next to him. He was a head taller than Baekhyun with a thin but an athletic figure. His elfish ears stuck out from his head. He had large round eyes like Luhan. His grin gives a mischievous feel. His hair unseen as it was covered from a cap.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry. Did I startle you? I sort of just came over here,” he smiles shyly. Baekhyun notices a dimple only on his right cheek. Disappeared was the playful grin that turn to a sweet smile. “I’m Chanyeol.”

He brings out his right hand. Baekhyun notice his Neptune tattoo on the index finger. The tattoo of Neptune was a trident, three lines topped with triangles attached to a plus on the bottom. Taking out his own right hand, he shook Chanyeol’s hand.

“Baekhyun,” he takes notice at Chanyeol looking at his tattoo. He eyes widening as it wasn’t a Neptune tattoo.

“You’re from Venus?” Baekhyun nods. “No wonder you’re so beautiful,” Baekhyun, taken back from the statement, squints his eyes in confusion.

“Excuse me?”

“I’m sorry. Did I say that out loud? I’m not used to being around someone as beautiful as you, I guess what they say about Venus is true,” Chanyeol continues with his playful grin on his face. How could Baekhyun forget? Other planets have this other belief that everyone from Venus was graced with attractive features. He remembers during the high school trip that other residents would gasp of the sight of Venus residents. Other students would do the same whenever they visit Venus. Baekhyun scoffs at Chanyeol and continues watching the dancing figure. “His name is Jongin,” Chanyeol spoke again, “one of my best friends.” Baekhyun can feel the hot breath of Chanyeol near his ear. He continues to watch the graceful dancer in silence in hopes for the man to stop talking to him. “He’s one of the greatest I’ve ever seen. I wish I could dance like him but these long lanky limbs don’t do me justice.” Chanyeol laughs and Baekhyun chooses to ignore him.

Chanyeol finally gets the hint and just stands beside Baekhyun with his cheeks flushing. Way to make a fool out of yourself, Chanyeol thought. He glances back at the Venus resident and relishes in his beauty. The sun hits perfectly at his face and makes him shine brighter than the sun in the sky. He frowns at his own embarrassment and continues watching Jongin.

Baekhyun peeks over at the giant and huffs a guilty sigh. Chanyeol looks like a sad puppy with the slight pout that’s on his face. “Thanks for the compliment. I get it all the time,” Chanyeol looks down to the voice that puts a smile on his face.

The dancing man stops with the music starting to fade out and bows to the applauding audience. He gathers all of the material that was scattered on the floor. The hat on the floor now full to the brim of cash.

Baekhyun feels a grip on his wrist and realizes he was being drag to the dancing figure. “Let me introduce you to him,” Chanyeol said. He hears running footsteps behind him, assuming it was Luhan following him. Chanyeol halts as Baekhyun is now faced with dancing man and another whose eyes are even larger than Chanyeol and Luhan. “Jongin, this is Baekhyun. I was talking to him during your performance. That’s Kyungsoo next to him,” Jongin and Kyungsoo stare at Baekhyun but slowly nods as they smile to him.

“Hi Baekhyun. Don’t mind Chanyeol. He does that a lot,” Jongin takes out his hand for a handshake. Baekhyun places his hand in his and brings the hand up and down.

“What? Drag random strangers to you?” Baekhyun asks laughing at the thought of Chanyeol bringing anyone who was just watching to Jongin. Jongin nods to the question while letting go of his hand. Kyungsoo brings out his and does the same motion as he did with Jongin. Kyungsoo looks at the hand he’s holding and widen his eyes at the discovery.

“You’re from Venus?” Kyungsoo ask. Jongin looks at the hand as surprise spreads to his face. Their focus is completely on him. Baekhyun starts to feel uncomfortable from the questioning gaze. He hears a voice from behind and looks to see Luhan out of breath. He runs up to him after making eye contact. He places his hand on his thigh as he’s catching his breath.

“I thought someone kidnap you when I saw you running with someone. Imagine what Minseok would do to me if he found out that I lost his baby brother. I would’ve been skinned alive!” Luhan exaggerates. The Neptune residents’ gazes are now at Luhan who has still heavily breathing. Luhan felt the gaze and looks up to see three unfamiliar people looks at him. “Who are these people?”

“Hi Baekhyun’s friend, I’m Chanyeol! I was just introducing Baekhyun to my friend who has dancing moments ago. I’m sorry that I worried you by taking Baekhyun. I wasn’t aware he was with somebody,” Luhan looks to the giant figure and back at Baekhyun. His eyes ask for what he said was true and Baekhyun nods from it.

“Hi Chanyeol. I’m Luhan,” he looks to the other two people watching and introduces himself to them as well.

“Are you also from Venus?” Jongin asks and later gets elbowed by Kyungsoo. He rubs his side and pouts from the pain.

“Of course, he is! How else would they be friends if he came from a different planet?”

“You don’t know! It could happen! The law says that we can’t get married to someone from another planet. Not be friends with them.” Jongin retorts while continuing to rub his side. Kyungsoo helps Jongin soothe his pain by also rubbing his side, kissing his cheek while muttering a sorry. Baekhyun watches the interaction in shock as he concluded the two were possibly dating. He then starts to feel jealous as he’ll never be able to experience something like that. Someone who will try to heal your wounds by affectionately rubbing it away. Baekhyun feels his phone vibrate in his pocket. He takes it out and sees a text message from Minseok.

_From: Minseok_

_Can you come back please?_

“Luhan, we have to go,” Baekhyun says to Luhan as he replies back to Minseok.

“You’re leaving already?” Chanyeol whines as he slightly pouts. “Oh well. I guess you should get going.”

“It was nice meet all of you.”

“It was nice meeting you too, Baekhyun. Maybe we’ll see each other around,” Chanyeol smiles shyly and rubs the back of his head. Kyungsoo carefully watches Chanyeol’s behavior and sighs from the sight.

Baekhyun and Luhan starts heading towards the direction of the hotel. Once the Venus residents gets to a good distance, Kyungsoo turns to Chanyeol.

“Be careful there, Yeol,” Kyungsoo warned.

“What do you mean?”

“I haven’t seen you act like that at a person since Dara in middle school.”

“What!? I just met the guy and you’re already assuming that I’m in love with him.”

“I’ve known you since preschool. It’s not assumption. Just be careful. He’s from Venus and it won’t do you good if you fall in love him.”

“I know better, Kyungsoo. I’m not love with him. I just think he’s attractive. Just mere affections. No love.”

Kyungsoo looks at Chanyeol in disbelief. It was the same thing he said about Dara but it developed into something more. Chanyeol was divested for weeks when Dara didn’t return his feelings. She completely avoided him after the incident to where she even moved to another province. Kyungsoo was with Chanyeol the entire time and he didn’t want it to happen again. “Whatever you say Chanyeol.”

Meanwhile, Baekhyun and Luhan was chatting as they walked to the hotel room.

“How did you meet Chanyeol?” Luhan ask randomly.

“I didn’t. He approached me and started talking about Jongin,” Baekhyun spots the hotel and drags Luhan towards the right direction. Luhan wanted to ask more about Chanyeol but he didn’t know how to ask them. Luhan just has an instinct about Chanyeol that he can’t explain.

“He’s a nice guy,” was all that Luhan could say from his confused thoughts.


	6. Envy

“Why do we have to leave so early in the morning?” Baekhyun whines at Minseok as he yawns. Minseok decided that he wanted everyone to be awake at eight o’clock so they can leave the room at nine. Minseok is full of life with a map in his hands while the rest is aggressively rubbing the sleep away from their eyes. To Baekhyun, his body feels that it is only six in the morning.

“Well we have to be first for all of the sales at the market. If we go later on the day, something that we could’ve liked could’ve been gone because someone already brought it,” Minseok explains as he walks ahead of everyone else. Baekhyun huff a heavy sigh with his arms crossed over one another. He takes heavy steps following close behind Minseok.

They arrive at the market and Baekhyun spots some seller still setting up. “Let’s grab something quick to eat, some people are clearly still setting up,” Baekhyun motion to the people whose stall is near entrance. As on cue, someone’s stomach growls. Luhan places his hand on his stomach and chuckles from embarrassment.

“I second that offer,” Luhan says shyly. The crew agreeably enter a small café nearby. After grabbing some food, they come back to the market fully set up and very little people walking around.

“I think this will be more fun if we all separate in partners from here. Just make sure your phone is on,” Minseok and Joonmyun pair up while Baekhyun, Luhan, and Sehun are together. They separate and start adventuring around.

Baekhyun gets easily intrigued from the handmade jewelry and paintings that were being sold. None has intrigued him enough to purchase them but he was completely amazed from the work. He currently has his interest on a black obsidian bracelet with a single opal. It was simple and plain but still beautifully crafted.  Baekhyun takes notice on the silence between, what supposed to be, the three of them. He looks around to see that Luhan and Sehun have vanished. He didn’t mind that he was left alone. Baekhyun is actually glad that Luhan and Sehun are spending time together. His attention is turned back on the bracelet. He twirls it around his finger before slipping it onto his wrist.

“Baekhyun,” someone in front of him calls for him. It was familiar but it wasn’t any of the Venus residents’ voices. He looks up from his wrist as he slips off the bracelet to make eye contact with wide eyes.

“Hi Kyungsoo! Nice seeing you again,” Baekhyun flashes a smile at him and straightens up. “Are these your stuff?” he asks pointing at the materials in front of him. 

“No, my parents do those. They’re more into making jewelry. I’m more into performing arts.”

“Like what? Do you dance like Jongin?”

“I wish. No, I’m just a singer,” Kyungsoo smiles. Baekhyun can tell that Kyungsoo is passionate in singing just from the simple mention of his occupation. He can tell that Kyungsoo purely just enjoys it. Baekhyun looks at him at jealousy as he wishes he can admit his passion like Kyungsoo can. Instead, he’s stuck with saying that he’s interested in business, lying to everyone.

“Are you okay?” Baekhyun looks at Kyungsoo in confusion.

“Yeah, I’m fine. Why do you ask?”

“You just started frowning,” Kyungsoo looks at him in concern. Baekhyun didn’t realize that his change of mood was noticeable.

Baekhyun, wanting to change the topic before Kyungsoo questions him farther, quickly asks, “Where are you going?”

“I’m about to meet up with Jongin. His parents also work at the market place so we meet up here before we head off together.”

“Where do you go?”

“Most of the time school. We go eat together on weekends,” Baekhyun is yet again jealous of Kyungsoo. He has everything that Baekhyun truly strives for. Living out for what he’s passionate about and having someone that loves him to spend every possible moment together. “Do you want to tag along with me?” Kyungsoo ask, breaking Baekhyun from his envious state.

“I probably shouldn’t. I barely just escaped a third wheeling situation before this. I don’t want to do it again. Thanks for the offer though,” Baekhyun starts looking through jewelry again since he thought Kyungsoo would leave but he continues to stand in the same spot.

“Okay, would you like to walk with me at least? You look rather lonely,” Baekhyun decides, after much thought, to take on his offer. They walk to the opposite direction that Baekhyun entered through. They stroll mostly in silent but Baekhyun enjoys Kyungsoo’s company.

“I just want to apologize for Chanyeol’s behavior yesterday. He just doesn’t understand that not everyone wants to be introduced to Jongin. Especially when they come from a different planet,” Kyungsoo breaks the silence. Baekhyun notices his tone sounds uneasy.

“Don’t worry about it,” Baekhyun didn’t know what else to say. He didn’t really mind Chanyeol yesterday. It was sudden for him to grab Baekhyun like that but he did like Jongin and Kyungsoo from just the brief introduction. They walk in silence again until Kyungsoo once again starts another conversation.

“Chanyeol has been my best friend for more than a decade. You’ll get used to his behavior once you spend more time with him,” Kyungsoo stops and thinks again, “that is if you spend time with him,” Baekhyun simply just nods from the comment. Baekhyun spots Jongin from afar and see two others with him. Jongin looks towards their direction and start running to Kyungsoo. They greet each other with a hug and Jongin plants a kiss on his forehead. Kyungsoo looks away from embarrassment and an obvious flush on his cheeks.

“Baekhyun, right? Thought I wouldn’t be seeing you again,” Jongin greets as he places his arm around Kyungsoo’s shoulder.

“I know. What a small world,” Baekhyun states as he watches the affectionate gesture.

“Baekhyun was at my parent’s area and I decided to ask him to tag along but he said no,” Kyungsoo explains to Jongin. “He said he doesn’t want to third wheel.”

“You can third wheel with two others. You should join us, Baekhyun!” Jongin smiles as his eyes beg for him to come with.

“I really shouldn’t. My brother and friends are in the market and I should probably to stick with them. I really appreciate the offer though.”

“If you say so,” Jongin pouts but starts dragging Kyungsoo to the others. They both wave goodbye to Baekhyun as they walk away from him. Baekhyun sighs at Kyungsoo and Jongin’s interaction as they are simply cute together. Kyungsoo wraps his arm around Jongin’s waist and leans his head on his shoulder. Baekhyun hears their laughter from his current spot. He turns back to the market place and continues to look over alluring art piece.


	7. Be Careful

Baekhyun reunites with Minseok and Joonmyun after a couple of hours by himself. He trails behind them as he looks around and purchases whatever he was interested in. He sighs in boredom as he follows the two elders with crossed arms. Baekhyun feels his stomach craving for food.

“Can we find Sehun and Luhan? I’m quite hungry,” Baekhyun declare as the two glances back at him as if they just remember that he was there. They nod as they starting to feel tired from walking around the market.

After they finally meet up with the other two, the Venus residents starts searching a good restaurant to settle down at. Baekhyun got impatient from the other’s indecisiveness and starts to drag the four to a random restaurant that looked decent from the outside. Upon entering, Baekhyun notice the interior to be elegant as it was decorated with red velvet and the room being dimly lit. The place had most of the tables filled with guest as workers were running around. He looks in front of him and sees a lady approaching them. She was wearing a white dress shirt with a black skirt that reaches to her knees. She had a brunette bob and beautiful smile that is ready to greet them. Baekhyun couldn’t place a finger as to why that smile reminded him of someone.

“Welcome! How many of you are there?”

“There are five of us,” Baekhyun quickly says. He lets go of the familiar feeling as he is just ready to eat at this point. The woman nods as she leans down to grab five menus. She starts to direct them towards a clean table. They sit down as the woman places the menu in the respective spots.

“Someone will quickly come over to take care of you,” she smiles again as she leaves the table. Baekhyun says a quick thank you before she left. Baekhyun scans over the menu and feels his mouth beginning to water from all of the delectable choices. Baekhyun was too focused on the menu to realize a familiar presence approaching the table.

“Hi, I am Chanyeol and I will be serving you today,” Baekhyun’s eyes widen at the name and deep voice. He looks to see the same taller male from yesterday. He was wearing the similar white dress shirt as the lady from earlier but meant for a male fit instead. He wore black slacks and had a server’s apron wrapped around his waist. His hair wasn’t in a cap this time and he notices that his hair is a shade of chocolate brown. Chanyeol makes eye contact with the table before he lands his eyes on Baekhyun’s. “Baekhyun! Pleasure seeing you again.”

“What does he mean by again, Baekhyun?” Minseok asks as he inspects the server from head to toe.

“Luhan and I was watching someone dancing yesterday and he approached me and offered to meet his dancing friend,” Baekhyun said without making eye contact with Minseok. He continues to flip through menu while his brother finishes observing the giant.

“Well, can I get you started with any drinks?”

After everyone ordered their drinks, Baekhyun keeps his eyes glued to the menu. He can feel four other pair of eyes staring at him. Without taking his eyes off the menu, he questions the table’s stares. “Mind I ask why all of you are just staring at me?” The curious eyes avert their attention away from him without answering his question.

Chanyeol comes back shortly with their drinks and begins to takes everyone’s order. Once Chanyeol got to Baekhyun, he was still thinking about what to order. While he was deciding, he feels the menu get pulled out of his grip.

“He’ll have the chicken alfredo,” he hears his best friend’s voice as he hands Chanyeol his menu. “I know that’s your favorite,” Luhan states. Chanyeol quickly writes on the pad before gathering the menus in Luhan’s hands. Chanyeol quickly leaves the table.

“I was going to try something else,” Baekhyun sips on his water with his arms crossed.

“You were wasting Chanyeol’s time by trying to choose something new. I know you too well Baekhyun. You say you’ll try something new or something else but you’ll just end up choosing a dish you’re most comfortable with,” Luhan simply states, “I also know how much you love alfredo so you’ll love it anyways.”

Baekhyun lays his back on the seat as he pouts from the accuracy of Luhan’s statement. Baekhyun turns towards the direction that Chanyeol walked to. He sees Chanyeol talking to someone through an open window leading to the kitchen. He hands the chef a ticket with a bright smile. Baekhyun beam at the sight and turns to faces the occupants at his table. He notices that they still continue to stare at him.

“Why do you guys keep looking at me?” Baekhyun still receive no answer as they look away to drink their water. The table stays silent until Chanyeol arrives with their food. The entire table looks directly at him as he delivers the plate to their rightful owner. Chanyeol looks at Baekhyun and gives him the same grin he saw earlier.

“Have a good meal,” although it was directed to the table, Chanyeol continues to stare at Baekhyun. He leaves the table and Baekhyun catches the table staring at him again.

“Why do you guys keep staring at me? Don’t look away from me. Give me an answer,” Baekhyun demands being clearly annoyed by the lack of response he has been given.

“Be careful, Baekhyun,” Minseok doesn’t look at him as he answers vaguely.

“What do you mean be careful?”

“Minseok means to not fall for the server,” Luhan doesn’t make eye contact with him as he stares at his plate, “you look really obvious.”

“Feelings? I’ve known the guy for an hour and you think I have feelings for him. That’s ridiculous!” Baekhyun was upset. Disappointed that his friends would think he would fall easily like that. He has a fiancé back at home.

“You smiled at him!” Sehun pointed out.

“I’m sorry that I was being polite. I was just returning a smile.”

“I haven’t seen you smile at someone like that since you know who,” Luhan continues to look at his food.

“I’m not falling in love with him. Can you please drop that assumption? He’s a Neptune. I know my place,” Baekhyun picks up his fork and finally starts to eat his alfredo. The table goes silent again until Joonmyun clears his throat and speaks his mind.

“Even if you don’t have feelings for him, it looks like he’s attracted to you,” Joonmyun says.

“With a beauty like him, who wouldn’t?” the same deep voice says approaching their table. Baekhyun blushes at the giant’s statement and continues eating. “Is the food okay?” Chanyeol ask around the table and receives positive response. Chanyeol directly looks at Baekhyun who’s eyes continue to stare at the plate. “How is the alfredo?”

Baekhyun jumps in surprise from the direct question. “It’s good. Tell the chef that the alfredo is amazing,” Baekhyun wasn’t lying. He believes that this has to be one of the best alfredo he has ever had considering that he’s eaten alfredo from many different places.

“I’ll make sure to tell my dad that,” that caught Baekhyun’s attention.

“Your dad?”

“Yeah, my parents own this restaurant. It’s a family business so my entire family is working here. My parents cook. I serve. I also sometimes cook. My sister was probably the one that brought you to this table.”

“You cook?”

“Sometimes. I’m usually in the back learning but when the place is busy, like tonight, I serve.” Chanyeol smiles at the table. He suddenly claps his hands and continues to speak. “I’m glad to hear that all of you enjoy the food,” he says then leaves the table. Baekhyun waits for Chanyeol to get to a safe distance away from the table and turns to the predictable eyes staring at him.

“He was practically bragging about himself to you. He called you beautiful!” Luhan shrieked. “He is so attracted to you!”

“Can you please stop acting like a teenage girl?” Baekhyun looks away from Luhan and finishes what was remaining on his plate. When the other finished, Baekhyun offered to pay. While the others were in the bathroom, Baekhyun waits for the bill to come around. He sees Chanyeol from a distance holding a guest check. He approaches Baekhyun and hands him the black book. Baekhyun opens to see not a receipt but a note.

_Don’t worry about it. It’s on me._

_~Chanyeol_

“What is this?”

“It’s a check. More of a lack of one.”

“You don’t have to do that Chanyeol. I can pay for it.”

“I’m sure you can but I don’t want you to. Don’t worry about it.”

“No, I’ll pay for it.”

“Now what kind of gentleman would I be if I make a beauty like you pay?” Chanyeol brushes his knuckle on Baekhyun’s check. Baekhyun goes redder than before.

“Do you normally flirt like that?”

“Not really. Only towards you”

“Let me pay for it. Please.”

“No.”

Baekhyun hesitates but he knows that Chanyeol won’t take no for an answer. He puts the guest check down and smiles at Chanyeol.

“Thanks then.”

“Hope to see you again.”

Baekhyun nods and starts walking to the entrance where the others are waiting. The door jingles from their exit.

“How much was it?” Minseok asks.

“I don’t know. He wouldn’t let me pay for it. It was on the house,” Baekhyun shyly states. The group stops and stares at him again.

“I think Joonmyun is right. He is so attracted to you,” Luhan says.

“Just be careful, Baekhyun” Minseok says again but this time, Baekhyun doesn’t fight back. He just wants to go back to the hotel room and forget about Chanyeol’s flirtatious advancements.

Meanwhile, Yura closely inspect Chanyeol’s behavior from afar. Since Baekhyun’s arrival, she notices that her brother’s behavior has changed. Chanyeol, who is normally friendly, became a flirt around Baekhyun. She watches the smiles on his face, his flushed cheeks, and his happier presence. After the restaurant has closes for the night, Yura approaches Chanyeol with a smile.

“So, who’s the boy?”

“What boy?”

“The one you kept flirting with while he was here. I think his name was Baekhyun. You did shout it out.”

“Oh him! He was just someone I met with yesterday.”

“Does he go to your school?”

“No. He’s actually from Venus,” Yura’s smile vanishes from her face. Her brother was attracted to someone who wasn’t from their planet.

“Chanyeol,” she said sternly. Chanyeol takes note on the change of tone on Yura’s voice. “This isn’t right. You know the law about marriage with another planet resident.”

“Who said anything about marriage? I only think he’s really attractive.”

“You say that now but sooner or later, you two are going to fall in love. It’s not going to work out because you two can’t get married which will lead to you two being depressed. Then he will eventually have to leave and you two will be six planets apart with no contact unless he decides comes back.” Yura flails her arms around as she expresses her anxious thoughts to him. Chanyeol chuckles and places a hand on her shoulder.

“Yura, that’s not going to happen. I just think he’s pretty. That’s all.”

“I’m just looking out for you.”

“I know. Thank you but I know what I’m doing. Don’t worry.”

“I just want my little brother to be happy and you liking him wouldn’t be the case.”

“Stop exaggerating! I don’t like him. I think he’s attractive but that’s it. Trust me.”

Yura sighs as she nods. “Fine. I’ll trust you.”


	8. Start

Baekhyun steps out of the hotel room by himself. He’s dressed in a simple pair of black jeans, white t-shirt, and a black windbreaker. He begins his stroll around Neptune alone. Upon stepping outside, he feels the crisp morning wind brush against his cheeks. He deeply inhales the fresh air. Baekhyun takes a couple of steps away from the hotel and takes the time to relish in his surroundings. The sky was a grayish blue and the sun is just peeking out from the mountain. The birds sing quietly to each other. Baekhyun listens carefully to their song as he continues walking away from the hotel. He hums to an unrecognizable tune stuck in his head. It was a Saturday morning. The roads lacked presence of other people. The sound of leaves brushing against concrete, the quiet wind, and the silent chatter were the loudest noise. It was a quiet Saturday. He checks his watch to see that it was fifteen after ten. He continues to walk by himself.

All of a sudden, someone runs into Baekhyun, flying paper and notebooks scatter over the floor.

“I’m sorry. I’m just late to a meeting with someone today and I wasn’t looking when I was checking the time,” the voice said as he didn’t acknowledge Baekhyun. His focus was to pick up all of the items from the floor. Baekhyun pause as he hears a familiar voice.

“Chanyeol?” the figure looks up and his assumption was right. The familiar large eyes stare up to his. Baekhyun kneels down and helps Chanyeol pick up books. “Coincidence seeing you again.” Baekhyun picks up a sheet. He observes it to see that the page had music bars and what he assumes to be music notes placed over the lines and spaces. Underneath some of the bars were lyrics to probably the score.

“Baekhyun, are you following me around? This is the third time I’ve seen you in three days,” Chanyeol had an obvious flirty tone to his comment. Baekhyun just laughed.

“You were the one that ran into me just now,” after one last look around, Baekhyun got up from his knees. Chanyeol gets up as well as he smiles down to Baekhyun. Baekhyun passes over the reminder of his papers.

Chanyeol chuckles, “Good point.” They stand in silence. Baekhyun rocks back and forth on his feet as his hands clasp behind him.

“So, what are you up to?” Chanyeol starts walking towards a direction and Baekhyun unconsciously follows by his side.

“Just out for a morning walk,” Baekhyun avoids looking at Chanyeol. His attention was purely on the floor. “You?”

“I’m off to meet my partner for an important project. I’m running late. We were supposed to meet at 10:30,” Baekhyun checks the time again and sees it’s twenty after ten.

They continue to walk side by side one another as the silence takes over. Baekhyun looks over to the disorganized paper in Chanyeol’s arms. Baekhyun starts to wonder why Chanyeol is in Neptune. He knows Jongin and Kyungsoo’s but not Chanyeol’s. He could probably guess what Chanyeol does but he wants to ask for confirmation.

“What do you do Chanyeol? Like why are you in Neptune?” Baekhyun looks at Chanyeol’s face and watches his face shift to delightful grin. He smiles wide to display his white shiny teeth. His eyes move along with his smile as Baekhyun watch them get smaller and crinkle at the corners.

“I compose. I also rap, sing, and play multiple instrument but my goal is to get a degree in Music Theory and Composition,” the smile on Chanyeol’s face message off how passionate and happy this makes him. From just the simple statement, Baekhyun can already tell how much he loves composing. He peeks at the music score from Chanyeol’s arms another time but pout when he realizes that he can’t read it. Chanyeol watches the smaller pout. “Do you want to come with me? I can teach you how to read this after my meeting with my partner. It’s not going to take long. We’re mostly finished anyways.”

Chanyeol’s words brings Baekhyun to halt as he starts to feel excitement course through his body. The others didn’t have much to do today. If they needed him, they can call him. Baekhyun childishly nods to Chanyeol. Chanyeol grabs Baekhyun’s wrist and start running forward.

“I wasn’t kidding when I said I was late,” and they run until Chanyeol halts at a large building. Entering the building, Baekhyun observe the hallway. It was spacious that was made easy for large amounts of students to walk through. There were classrooms doors evenly spaced from each other. The ceiling had skylights, allowing natural sunlight to brighten up the hallway. Chanyeol still drags Baekhyun to the end of the hallway and enter a room, in it occupied another being. He turns around and takes notice of the extra person.

“Hi Chanyeol. Hi Chanyeol’s friend,” the stranger sticks his hand out for a shake. Baekhyun grasp his hand and motions the hand up and down. “I’m Yixing.”

“Baekhyun,” he introduces himself to the stranger. Baekhyun didn’t miss when Yixing’s eyes trail down this index finger. He brings his hand back slowly and smiles at Yixing.

“I hope you don’t mind Baekhyun being here. I was going to show him something after our meeting,” Yixing whisper softly that it was fine. Chanyeol brought Baekhyun to a soft sofa in the corner of the room. “You can wait here. It shouldn’t take long.”

Baekhyun got himself comfortable by sprawling his body to take up the entire couch. The room was painted a creamy brown shade with a single window. There was a desk that had an equipment that Baekhyun didn’t recognize. There were black knobs and switches that Yixing was fiddling with to make the melody sound slightly different. There was a keyboard in front the black pad with a computer on the side. Baekhyun shifts his attention to the room where there was a microphone and set of headphones. That room had soundproof pads covering from the floor to ceiling. He remembers seeing these rooms in music videos where the artist would be singing into the hanging microphone. Taking his interest away from the single room, Baekhyun pulls out his cell phone and starts to play around with it. He grabs the earphones in his pocket and stuck them in his ears.

Chanyeol approaches Yixing and takes the seat next to him. They start working on the finishing touches to their composition piece. Chanyeol would occasionally peek at Baekhyun to see what the smaller was doing. He would mostly be listening to his music while playing with his phone from what Chanyeol could tell.

“Do you like him?” Yixing’s abrupt question shocked Chanyeol. Yixing was looking at him as he finishes up the composition.

“Oh no, I’m just attracted to him. He’s a beauty, isn’t he?”

“Yeah he is but I don’t keep looking backing to him. Is this the boy Kyungsoo was talking about?”

“What boy?”

“The one you met at Kai’s street performance once.”

“Yeah. That would be him. Why does Kyungsoo talk about him?”

“He’s worried about you, Chanyeol. Baekhyun is a Venus resident and Kyungsoo is afraid you’ll fall in love with him. Not just him but all of us are.”

“Why does everyone keep thinking that I will fall in love with him? I just think he’s really attractive.”

“Then why did you bring him here?”

“I ran into him on my way here. He looked interested in our composition so I invited him along.”

“Okay,” Yixing starts to pack his items, “I think we’re done here. The composition is done. The lyrics are done. Now we just need to do the instrumental and find someone to sing this for us.”

“I’ll ask Kyungsoo if he would like to. See you on Monday, Yixing,” Yixing leaves the room with a nod and a wave goodbye. The door closes and the room falls silent. Chanyeol twirls his chair in the direction of the sofa. He sees the back of Baekhyun curled in a fetus position on the sofa. Chanyeol walks over with the intent to wake Baekhyun up. He pauses as he takes another look at the being in front of him. The sun lightly hits his pale complexion, making his skin illuminate in a heavenly manner. His face displays peacefulness as his chest slowly raise up and down. Chanyeol stares at the smaller for a little longer before he decides to wake him up. He places his hand on Baekhyun’s shoulder and tries shaking him awake. Baekhyun groans as he takes the earphones out. “Come to the table. Yixing just left. I’ll teach you a thing or two on reading notes.”

Baekhyun lightly nods as he stretches off the sofa. He walks over to where Chanyeol was sitting, who was ready with a smile on his face. Baekhyun takes the unoccupied seat.

The two spend all day laughing and chatting with each other. Chanyeol efficiently taught Baekhyun the basic to reading musical notes but eventually the two gets sidetracked with the interest to know each other. They got to learn about each other’s likes and dislikes, family, friends, etc.

“What kind of arts are in Venus?” Chanyeol ask after the lesson. The clock strike three.

“We don’t have arts in Venus. When funding for school was getting tight, the first thing they did was completely eliminate arts. There would be no reason to supply art supplies when it won’t be necessary for most of our future. No one there wasn’t interested in drawing, music, literature. They only care about business. We rely on Neptune to provide the arts for us,” Baekhyun had his head on his right hand. His elbow was pressed against the table as he watches Chanyeol. Chanyeol in the same position with his opposite arm. They stare at each other as they converse.

“That sounds boring.”

“It pretty much is. There isn’t much there other than large buildings that have successful chairman controlling the place.”

“What do you do Baekhyun? Like why are you in Venus?” Baekhyun chuckles as Chanyeol repeat his question from earlier.

“From birth. I’m not interested in business but I continue on the family business. At least that’s what my parents want,” Baekhyun didn’t know as to why he openly revealed that to Chanyeol. His personal feelings about his parents isn’t something he tell people. Even Luhan isn’t aware of his undesire to be in Venus. It just seems like Chanyeol was just easy to talk to where things can easily slip out.

“Then what are you interested in?”

“Singing.”

Baekhyun closes his eyes as he imagines himself in this university studying music, taking vocal lessons, compete in singing competition. Being surrounded with amazing works all the time. Being friends with people of the same interest like Kyungsoo, Jongin, Yixing. Being with Chanyeol. Instead he’s stuck in Venus learning about business tactics.

Chanyeol watches Baekhyun’s shut eyes. He looks at his and Yixing’s music score they composed between them and thought of an idea.

“Sing this.” Baekhyun immediately opens his eyes from the disruption of silence. Baekhyun looks to Chanyeol to see he was referencing the sheet.

“I don’t know how to read it.”

“With what I taught you, try to read it.”

Baekhyun gulps nervously and attempts to sing the composition. Chanyeol admits that Baekhyun was rough in getting the rhythm but there was one thing he couldn’t deny. Baekhyun’s voice sounded pleasing. He could possibly make the birds in the morning green with envy. His voice was melodious and lullaby material. It was soft and full of emotion. Chanyeol have never heard a voice like Baekhyun’s. Such a beautiful voice would match a beautiful face Chanyeol thought.

“How was that?” Baekhyun asked Chanyeol who sat in silent. Baekhyun interpreted his silence as disappointing. “I guess I wasn’t that good. I’m sorry for ruining your ears for having you listening to me sing.”

“No. You have a beautiful voice. I was just speechless,” the silence between them created a thick tension. They stare into each other’s eyes. At the heat of the moment, Chanyeol started to lean closer to Baekhyun, hovering over him as he got even closer. Baekhyun felt his heart beat rapidly as he didn’t know what to do. Baekhyun felt the warm breath of Chanyeol brush against his lips as his palms get sweaty. He closes his eyes and wait for the lips to meet his.

They halt from the shirring sound of a phone. They look towards the direction of the sound. Baekhyun’s phone has just gotten a text. He walks over to the mobile phone and checks the notification.

_From: Luhan_

_Minseok wants you to come back._

“I have to go,” Baekhyun stuffs the phone in his pocket. He turns to see Chanyeol with looks of disappointment on his face. He nods as he starts to gather his paper to stuff them in his backpack.

“I’ll walk you back. What hotel are you staying at?” Baekhyun takes up the offer and tells him the name. They walk in silent back to the hotel. The tension from before was even thicker in where Baekhyun can feel the weight of it. Baekhyun sees the familiar building of his hotel from afar. He too starts to feel disappointed as his time with Chanyeol was shorten. Time passes by quickly as they arrive to the entrance of the hotel.

“I had fun today. I would like to do this again,” Baekhyun bravely admits while looking at the floor. He hears Chanyeol’s low chuckle. A phone was quickly passed over to him. Baekhyun looks at Chanyeol with confusion.

“Put your number in it so we can do it again,” Baekhyun grabs the phone from Chanyeol’s hands and entered his phone number. Afterwards, he hands it back and mutters a soft goodbye to Chanyeol. In the elevator ride, Baekhyun calms his rapid beating heart as he recalls the entire day. He smiles to himself as the elevator ding for his floor arrival. He opens the door and sees everyone surrounding the room.

“Where were you Baekhyun?” Minseok asks with concern.

“I just went out for a walk. I guess I just really enjoyed the Neptune air that I lost track of time,” Baekhyun stride over to his bed and starts to charge his phone. Luhan watches Baekhyun hop on the bed with a smile as he knows where it was coming from. He was watching the window when he noticed his best friend with a familiar Neptune resident.

“Is something wrong Luhan?” Baekhyun asks as he notice his best friend staring at him with concern as well.

“Nothing.”


	9. Concern

After another long day of walking around Neptune, the Venus residents plop onto their respective bed and all release a tired sigh. Luhan and Baekhyun lay next to each other on one bed and Luhan couldn’t help but notice Baekhyun’s attraction towards his phone all day. Whenever Luhan wants to converse with him, Baekhyun’s focus was entirely on the phone. He was rapidly tapping his phone and would grin at the illuminated blue screen. Luhan would try to look over to see what was the cause of his undivided attention but Baekhyun would turn his phone off right after. As they lay next to each other, Baekhyun’s body was turn towards Luhan but with his phone between the two friends. Baekhyun eventually puts his phone down and smile at his best friend. He hops off the bed.

“I’m going to take a shower,” Baekhyun announces while grabbing a pair of clothes to change into. Luhan watches his best friends walk towards the bathroom and wait to hear the sound of the bathroom door close. He looks around the room and spot the other attempting to enter their dream state. Luhan grabs his own phone as to fulfill his boredom. As he was about to turn his phone on, Luhan feels a light vibrate next to his head. Luhan looks over and notice that Baekhyun left his phone behind. After another glance at the others, he grabs his best friend’s phone and starts to search around the device. Luhan is first greeted with a notification from Chanyeol. Luhan unlocks his phone, as he is aware Baekhyun put his birthday as the passcode, and scrolls though the text conversation between the two.

 _From: Chanyeol_  
Sat. 3:16PM  
Hey, it’s me Chanyeol. I just wanted to discuss future plans about meeting up for another session. 

_From: Baekhyun_  
Sat. 3:17PM  
Hi Chanyeol. I’m unsure as to when we can do it again but I can try to see you tomorrow morning like today.

 _From: Baekhyun_  
Sat. 8:09PM  
Turns out I can’t. My brother has a whole day planned for us. Another time?

 _From: Chanyeol_  
Sat. 8:12PM  
Oh darn. I was excited to see you again. 

There wasn’t much to their conversation after that. They mainly messaged each other information about one another, things that Luhan already knew about Baekhyun. There were also messages where Chanyeol suggest for Baekhyun places to visit and to eat. It was the most recent conversation that pique Luhan’s interest.

 _From: Baekhyun_  
Sun. 6:12PM  
If you feel up for it, we can meet up at 7

 _From: Chanyeol_  
Sun. 6:13PM  
Sure. Same place as usual?

 _From: Baekhyun_  
Sun. 6:13PM  
Yeah! I’ll see you later!

 _From: Chanyeol_  
Sun. 6:17PM  
I’ll see you later. Meet me at the front of your hotel, okay?

Luhan still hasn’t figured out to what these sessions are. Luhan begins to think the worst. Is Baekhyun doing drugs? Is he partying? Is he having casual sex? What exactly are these sessions with Park Chanyeol? His anxious thoughts were interrupted when he heard the bathroom door open. Luhan locks the phone, places it screen down, and pretends to be asleep. He hears Baekhyun comes out of the bathroom and shuffles around the hotel room. The space next to him slightly dip from extra weight and listens to the phone moving across the sheets. The room goes silent. The comforter, that was originally next to him, is now placed on top of him. The last thing he hears before the room goes quiet is the hotel room door open and close. Luhan gets up from his fake slumber. He throws the recently placed comforter off his body and sprints to the window. There he witnesses Baekhyun and Chanyeol walking away together with Chanyeol’s arms around Baekhyun’s shoulder. They walk away from viewing distance and Baekhyun has done nothing to remove his arm.

Byun Baekhyun, what are you doing with Park Chanyeol?


	10. Melody

Baekhyun spots Chanyeol the moment he steps out of the hotel. The giant wore black from head to toe with his jeans and hoodie. He was carrying a guitar case on his back, hunching over his phone. His hair was freely flowing with the slight breeze pushing it away from his face. The sun was setting that gave a background of different hues of pinks, oranges, and yellows. The warm background creates a breathtaking contrast with Chanyeol’s dark silhouette. Chanyeol looks towards the entrance and catches Baekhyun staring. His dimples peeks through his cheeks. Chanyeol stuffs his hands into the pockets and shifts his weight onto his right leg. Chanyeol looks like he came straight from a movie scene, Baekhyun thought.

Baekhyun shakes his thoughts for his admiration for Chanyeol. You shouldn’t be seeing him like that, Baekhyun thinks to himself. After attempting to break his attention away from Chanyeol’s appearance, he shuffles over to him who is patiently waiting.

“Ready?” Baekhyun happily nods as Chanyeol starts making his way to the university. He walks closely beside Chanyeol where his left arm brushes against his right. All of a sudden, Baekhyun feels a slight weight resting on his shoulders. Looking next to him, Chanyeol wraps his arms around the smaller male and brings him closer. Baekhyun does nothing to shrug the arm away. Instead, he allows it to stay in place with a flush coming to his cheeks. This is an intimate feeling that Baekhyun doesn’t deny he enjoys. His heart rate starts pacing. His body feels warmer than normal. He feels something in his stomach that he has never felt. Butterflies. An unconscious smile creeps on his face from the overwhelming feelings that Chanyeol is giving him.

The pair walks in silence to the university. The sight of the school gets larger as they are reaching close to their destination. Chanyeol releases his arm off Baekhyun’s shoulder. He starts to feel empty from the lack of weight. He feels disappointed.

What are you thinking, Baekhyun thought to himself. He starts to shake off the feeling of bliss from Chanyeol’s presence. It was just cold and Chanyeol is just surprisingly warm. Chanyeol is just a friend who attempts to flirt at you, nothing else. You’re just desperate for romance. Baekhyun denies any feelings he may harbor for Chanyeol.

“Baekhyun,” he comes back from reality when he hears the deep voice calling for his name. Baekhyun realizes that Chanyeol has the door open for him, waiting for him to enter. Chanyeol face shows worry, as he was probably waiting for Baekhyun to enter while he was deep in thoughts. Baekhyun flashes a smile at him which Chanyeol did the same. He enters and waits for Chanyeol. Chanyeol doesn’t wrap his arms around Baekhyun again. He’s disappointed but glad at the same time. He walks behind Chanyeol down the familiar hallway and into the same room from yesterday. Baekhyun sits in the same chair and wait for Chanyeol to take out his guitar.

Chanyeol begins to strum a few chords to which Baekhyun starts humming to. He struggles at first but slowly starts to pick up the pace. They start to feel a unity on their impromptu performance. Chanyeol continues to strum the same few chords while Baekhyun softly sings along. Baekhyun feels a sense of joy coursing through his body. He feels happy. He’s lost in the passion of his dreams. He forgets about the world around him. He forgets about the Byun’s pharmaceutical firm. He forgets about Yifan, Luhan, Minseok, and his parents. He forgets about all of his business classes. Most importantly…

He forgets about Venus.

The only thing he feels is the vibration of sounds coming from Chanyeol’s guitar. He feels the vibration from his throat as he continues to hum through this melodious journey.

Chanyeol simply watches the pure bliss form on Baekhyun’s face. The yellow sun softly touches his fair skin creating an iridescent glow. His smile was indescribable as he closes his eyes and nods along with the song. From the few days he’s known Baekhyun, this is the happiest he’s ever seen from the Venus resident. Chanyeol unconsciously stops playing as he’s taken to another universe simply watching Baekhyun.

Baekhyun takes note of the music stopping and opens his eyes. Chanyeol is watching him. His chocolate brown eyes bores deeply into his. There was something in Chanyeol’s eyes that Baekhyun couldn’t recognize. It was deeper than the admiration and fascination he was used to from other residents visiting Venus.

“That was beautiful,” the air is thick from tension. He gulps down whatever was stuck in his throat. Something is at the tip of his tongue. The butterflies from earlier comes back but they intensify in a tenfold.

“Thanks,” was the only thing Baekhyun can muster at the tense moment. They stay quiet for another minute before Chanyeol clears his throat, puts the guitar down, and brings the chair to the desk.

“You’ve learned a lot from yesterday. I’m surprised that you were able to pick up the entire melody pretty quickly,” he says, breaking eye contact.

“Well it seemed really simple and sounded easy to follow along,” Baekhyun confesses as he moves himself closer to the desk as well.

“It was at first but I tried incorporating more complex chords and you still manage to follow along,” Chanyeol admits, “did you practice while you were gone?”

“I was with my friends all day. I wouldn’t dare show them all of this.”

“Then what did you tell them before you came to see me?”

“Nothing. They were all asleep,” Baekhyun watches Chanyeol as he pulls out the music sheet they were using to learn from yesterday, “I’ll just tell them that I got bored when they wake up and ask where I was.”

The two begin working on the music sheet again. Things were getting harder to understand for Baekhyun but Chanyeol has been really patient with him. What they learned yesterday was child’s play compared to today. Baekhyun got constantly stuck learning all of the rules behind sharps, flats, minors, etc.

“I just don’t get it, Chanyeol,” although Chanyeol’s patience was high, Baekhyun’s wasn’t. He was getting easily frustrated. This is harder than learning any business methods back at home to him.

“Don’t give up just yet. I remember learning this for the first time was not easy. I can’t imagine how hard it is for you since you don’t have much musical history. I promise it gets easier but just don’t sell yourself short,” Chanyeol attempts to encourage Baekhyun who is pressed against the backrest with a pout.

That’s the problem, Baekhyun thinks. He always sells himself short. He never tries again when he thinks he isn’t able to do it. He has attempted and given up on multiple projects he thought he was capable of doing. He doesn’t avoid defeat as he allows it to ride on his back.

“You should just give up on me, Chanyeol,” there it is. Baekhyun admitting defeat. He’s used to it. He leans over the desk and shoves his head into his crossed arms.

He feels a hand rubbing small circles on his lower back. It was comforting. Baekhyun turns his head to look at the owner of the hand. Chanyeol looks serious as he says his next words.

“I’m not going to give up on you.”

Baekhyun feels chills run down his spine as Chanyeol’s eyes hold strongly into his.

“Okay,” Baekhyun senselessly agrees. Chanyeol smiles and takes his hands away from Baekhyun’s back. Baekhyun straightens up and continues to learn the theories of music.

They finish their session as Baekhyun got tired from looking at triplets and sharps. Baekhyun requested for Chanyeol to play the guitar while they leisure around. Baekhyun closes his eyes to feel the soulful song that Chanyeol is strumming through. Baekhyun starts to think about what it would be like if he lived in Neptune. He’s been doing that a lot being around Chanyeol. He has never been this happy being at Venus even if he was around Luhan or Minseok. He sighs from his misfortune.

Baekhyun takes a look outside and notice the yellow sky has turned black. The stars were starting to scatter the night. The white moon is the only contrast from the dark canvas of the sky. Baekhyun looks at the clock that read five minutes before ten. He takes the phone out of his pocket to read all of the messages he’s been ignoring for the past hour.

“I should probably get going,” Baekhyun says as he reads through all of the messages from Minseok. He gets up from the chair and Chanyeol follows suit. Baekhyun waits for Chanyeol to pack up before he guides him towards the exit of the university.

Neptune was even prettier during the night than the day. The lights were shining different shades of blues, reds, and greens. Everyone’s artwork was being illuminated by their own light of different shapes. Some were bell shaped. Some were flat. Nonetheless, the artist choice of light brings the artwork to life. The performances were elevated from the streetlamp. The markets were decorated with small blue lights twinkling over the pathway. The night of Neptune was full of life.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Chanyeol ask as he notices Baekhyun’s eyes wondering around. Without looking at Chanyeol, Baekhyun nods to the question. “I never get tired of Neptune. There’s always new things to look at.”

Baekhyun spots the hotel from afar and he starts to feel upset. That would mean his time with Chanyeol would have to end. Once they reach the entrance, Baekhyun turns to face Chanyeol.

“Thanks for teaching me, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun smiles shyly as he looks away from Chanyeol and onto the floor.

“Don’t worry about it. I’m having fun teaching you everything.”

“I must be your hardest student.”

“Of course not. You’re my only student so I don’t have much expectations,” Chanyeol jokes around.

“Well, thanks again for wasting your time to teach me.”

“You’re not a waste of time, Baekhyun. I like spending time with you,” Baekhyun looks up after the statement. Chanyeol now has a shy smile and avoiding Baekhyun’s eye contact. I do, too, Baekhyun doesn’t say. They stand across from each other for a little longer.

“Well, you should go. They’re probably worried about you,” Chanyeol and Baekhyun finally makes eye contact, “goodnight, Baekhyun.”

“Goodnight, Chanyeol,” Baekhyun turns around to enter the hotel.

Chanyeol watches Baekhyun’s back disappear before he returns home. His parents were making dinner while Yura was on the couch watching the television.

“Where were you all day?” Yura ask, not taking her attention off the television.

“Around,” Chanyeol says simply before he goes upstairs. He sets everything down and lays on his bed to think about his day with Baekhyun. He recalls the look on Baekhyun’s face whenever played his guitar and how carefree he was hearing the instrument. He recalls Baekhyun being lost in his own world when he started to sing along with the melody. He recalls his smile, his laugh, his graceful features, him.

Meanwhile, Baekhyun enters the hotel room with all of his friends and his brother’s eyes of concern shift to relief.

“Where were you, Baekhyun? We all tried to call and message you and you didn’t answer. We were getting worried,” Minseok runs up to hug his younger brother. Baekhyun hugs him back in hopes that he will relax.

“You all fall asleep so I got bored and started to explore Neptune by myself. The streets of Neptune were so beautiful at night that I lost track of time. My phone was on silent the whole time so I just got all of your messages and came right back,” Baekhyun explains. Minseok releases him from his tight embrace and lectures him to at least leave a note before disappearing.

After the lecture, Baekhyun hops on his bed with Luhan sitting on it. He greets Luhan but he doesn’t say anything. Baekhyun couldn’t help but notice his loud best friend being unusually quiet.

“Luhan, are you okay?”

“No,” Luhan denies but Baekhyun can sense something wrong in him. He doesn’t want to pry because if there is something Luhan is worried about, he’ll tell him eventually.

“Okay. If there is anything I can do to help, just tell me.”

“Of course.”

Luhan watches Baekhyun lay on his back as he starts to play on his phone. Baekhyun’s phone chimes from a new notification. Luhan picked up on Baekhyun’s lies earlier. He hates having his phone silent. He begins to worry about his best friend again. How can Luhan ever address his worry to Baekhyun when he is the center of his anxiety?


	11. Belong

Baekhyun and Chanyeol hasn’t made up the time to meet up for another week. Minseok has been taking the crew to festivals and conventions hours away while Chanyeol has been backed up with attending classes, homework, and helping at his parent’s restaurant. Baekhyun misses Chanyeol’s presence and their session. Despite how difficult it is to learn music theory, Chanyeol has been such a good teacher that he makes learning it fun.

During the week, the two messaged each frequently about random little thing. Baekhyun’s friends and Minseok has been questioning Baekhyun’s phone being notified constantly and the immediate smile on his face. Minseok had asked his younger brother about the ringtone and who the sender is. Baekhyun has deflected the question just saying that it’s only a friend. He wants to avoid having Minseok knowing about Chanyeol.

The hotel room is quiet as the other resident were resting from exhaustion. Minseok took them to multiple events that required them to be on their feet for the majority of the day. Baekhyun is still awake, messaging Chanyeol.

 _From: Chanyeol_  
Fri. 7:24PM  
So what are you up to now?

 _From: Baekhyun_  
Fri. 7:24PM  
Just in the hotel. We just got back from the weekly Neptune Art Festival. 

_From: Chanyeol_  
Fri. 7:25PM  
How was it? 

_From: Baekhyun_  
Fri. 7:26PM  
I had a lot of fun. Really exhausted but there was a lot to look at. 

_From: Chanyeol_  
Fri. 7:27PM  
Would you be too exhausted to meet up? It’s been a while since we had a session. 

_From: Baekhyun_  
Fri. 7:28PM  
I’m not exhausted to meet up. Let’s meet up right now. We can just have a short session. 

_From: Chanyeol_  
Fri. 7:29PM  
Would you know your way to the studio? I’m already here. 

_From: Baekhyun_  
Fri. 7:30PM  
I can try. I’ll be right there. 

Baekhyun slowly gets off the bed to avoid waking up the peaceful Luhan. He grabs the hotel notepad and pen to write a quick note before leaving, as instructed from Minseok. The sun has set completely to where the sky is getting dark and the streetlamps have been turned on. He walks to the direction of the university from memory and arrives to the university quickly.

He opens the door to see Chanyeol sitting at the desk with headphones on. Chanyeol turns around to acknowledge the Venus resident and brings his attention back to the black set of equipment. Chanyeol wasn’t alone. Kyungsoo was in the recording room with a music sheet in his hands and the microphone around his head. He has not yet looked up to take note of the new person occupying the room. Baekhyun takes the seat next to Chanyeol and observes him furiously clicking on the mouse. Once he was done, Chanyeol clicks on a red button.

“Alright, Kyungsoo, I’m all set up for you. Whenever you are ready, you can start,” Kyungsoo finally looks up to see Baekhyun in the previously empty seat. Baekhyun does a small wave which Kyungsoo reciprocated. Chanyeol does one click before the melody, the one Baekhyun is learning off of, is being played.

The song was soft and had the background instrumental of violins and a piano. It had a strong start that progresses to a mellow sound that intrigues Baekhyun in. The song gets quiet and Kyungsoo begins to sing. His voice was warm and smooth. He layers many emotions through every word he sings, feeling the despair of the lyrics. His voice starts low but progress to a higher pitch once the chorus reaches in. The progression was done impressively with Kyungsoo’s voice. As the third verse takes on a powerful melody, Kyungsoo escalates his voice to be full of passion. He holds a particular note that leads to the last chorus of the song, ending with Kyungsoo’s velvety voice with the last strum of violins.

“Perfect job as always Kyungsoo,” he smiles at the compliment from his best friend. Kyungsoo takes the headphones off to meet eyes with Baekhyun’s full of admiration.

“That was amazing, Kyungsoo,” Baekhyun voice lace with much fascination from the singer, “I wish I could sing like you.”

“Thank you, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo turns to Chanyeol whose attention was on the computer, “Chanyeol, what is Baekhyun doing here?”

“You see. Baekhyun has been interested in singing and I thought I could call you to teach him a couple of things technique wise,” Chanyeol isn’t looking at him but Kyungsoo can sense the nervousness from his own request.

“Why me? Why didn’t you ask Jongdae? He has more experience with vocal coaching than I do.”

“Jongdae vocal coaches for those who already have strong technique get stronger. I thought I should start Baekhyun with you for basics then move over to Jongdae. Also, he knows and is probably more comfortable with you,” Chanyeol’s eyes never leave the screen as he answers.

Kyungsoo sighs but gesture for Baekhyun to follow him into the recording room. Baekhyun jumps out of the chair and runs along with Kyungsoo into the room. Kyungsoo notices the evident smile on his face as Baekhyun approaches the hanging microphone.

“Sing me something,” Baekhyun gets taken out of his appreciation from the equipment. Kyungsoo’s arms are crossed as he sits on a folding chair. Baekhyun randomly picks a song that he remembers listening at Venus and starts to sing. He feels intimidated from the even smaller male as his facial expression remain stoic. When Baekhyun finishes, Kyungsoo gets up from the chair.

“You’re pretty good yourself, Baekhyun,” Kyungsoo’s words along with his smile brings relief to Baekhyun. “There are just some things I would suggest.”

For hours, Chanyeol watches from the other room the pair singing and joking around. He would occasionally listen in with how their lesson is going. Kyungsoo seems to have gotten comfortable around the blonde. Baekhyun has definitely loosened up and is being rather playful around Kyungsoo. By the time Chanyeol adds the last touches to the composition and packs up for the night, Kyungsoo gives Baekhyun his phone to most likely exchange phone numbers. Kyungsoo opens the door for him as they leave the room.

“Give me a call and stop by my parents’ jewelry shop and I can teach you a few more things. I might even invite Jongdae since he is better teacher than I am,” Kyungsoo says to Baekhyun. Chanyeol waits for Kyungsoo to gather his stuff.

He turns to Baekhyun who waits patiently for Kyungsoo. “Did you learn some new stuff today?” Baekhyun eagerly nods from the question. Once Kyungsoo is packed, the trio leaves the building with a positive mood around them. Conversation are being thrown around easily without any ounce of awkwardness during the walk. When they reach the hotel, Baekhyun wishes them both a goodnight before entering the hotel.

Chanyeol and Kyungsoo walks side by side in silence. They both didn’t say anything as they are both high from Baekhyun’s energy.

“Baekhyun seems to naturally fit in,” Kyungsoo breaks the silence as he sees his house.

“What is that supposed to mean?”

“I mean that Baekhyun just easily connected with us. He seems happier than the last two times I’ve seen him. I can see him connecting to the others,” Kyungsoo explains. They reach Kyungsoo’s house, bidding each a goodnight.

The hotel elevator dings to signal that it has reached his floor. Baekhyun sets foot into the hotel to see that everyone is asleep except for Joonmyun. He stares out the window with a glass of water in his hand, looking down the bright lights. He doesn’t turn around.

“Who were those people you were just with?” Joonmyun’s voice was soft as he circles around the glass cup.

“Just some people I met at the market,” he lies in hopes that Joonmyun would believe him.

“Really? One of them awfully looked like that Park Chanyeol from before,” Joonmyun sets the glass on the table as he gets up from his seat. He walks towards Baekhyun with a slow stride. Baekhyun stays frozen.

“You must be mistaken then.”

Joonmyun raises a brow from his statement. Baekhyun can sense that Joonmyun can see through his lies. He doesn’t say anything. They stay quiet until Joonmyun turns away from him and head towards the bed he shares with Minseok.

“Just remember Baekhyun. You have a fiancé at home,” the statement was chilling as the hairs on his arms stand up. Joonmyun pulls the comforter over himself. Baekhyun remain in the same spot before he hears the soft snores from Joonmyun.


	12. Friend

_From: Kyungsoo_  
_Sat. 7:41AM_  
 _Let’s meet up at 10 today if you’re available._

Baekhyun stands in front of the jewelry shop of Kyungsoo’s parents at the market. He was able to convince the others to visit the market with him today so he can sneak away with Kyungsoo. He manages to leave Sehun and Luhan behind at the mini canvas stand.

The door behind him abruptly opens to reveal Kyungsoo in a simple black sweater and jeans. Kyungsoo steps out of the shop and approach Baekhyun.

“Glad you got my text. I was afraid you wouldn’t be awake,” Kyungsoo walks to the opposite side from where he entered. Baekhyun stroll along next to him as gets a sense of deju vu from the last time he met up with Kyungsoo. This time he feels more comfortable around the other male this time around.

“Minseok makes us wake up early almost every day to tour around Neptune,” Baekhyun responds to his statement. They continue to walk straight in silence until Baekhyun sees a fountain at the exit of the market. He notices that there were four other people surrounding the fountain who looks to be waiting for someone. He recognizes two from the group.

“Baekhyun, I haven’t seen you in a while. Surprise seeing you with Kyungsoo again,” Jongin greets him. Kyungsoo comes up to Jongin to bring him into a tight embrace where Jongin hugs the smaller and give him a chaste kiss on the top of the head.

“Nice seeing again, Baekhyun,” Yixing sticks out his hand to formally shake his hand. Baekhyun takes his right hand to shake the others.

“Sorry, I should’ve mentioned that we were meeting up with my other friends,” Kyungsoo apologizes. Baekhyun tells him he doesn’t mind as he eyes the two strangers. One of them had dark eyebags and a piercing stare while the other had kind eyes with a kitten grin.

“Hi, my name is Zitao,” the one with the dark eyebags said with a shy wave. His smile relieves the intense stare he had on Baekhyun before.

“I’m Jongdae,” the other says with excitement in his voice, “I’ve heard so much about you from Kyungsoo,” Jongdae takes Baekhyun’s hand and shakes his hand up and down. “Heard you want to get into singing?” Baekhyun timidly nods from the question. Jongdae’s lips curls up at the corner.  “You are so cute! You came to the right person. I can help you with your singing.”

“Chanyeol will be joining us later. He’s so lazy on the weekends that we don’t see him until like an hour or two later,” Kyungsoo mentions as he starts to direct the crowd a certain direction. Baekhyun walks alongside Jongdae chats with him during the trail to their destination.

On the other side of the road, Luhan watches Baekhyun follow along with the other Neptune residents based on the one he can recognize. Luhan grew suspicious when Baekhyun suggested to go to the market this morning. Then when he disappeared, Luhan had an idea where he might’ve gone. What he wasn’t expecting that his suspicion was false as there was no sight of Chanyeol. He manages to find him with the dancer from the first day. Baekhyun smiles along with the new crew as they walk further away from the market.

Luhan decides to follow Baekhyun to ensure that he would be safe. As well to finally cure his curiosity of Baekhyun’s escapade. He distances himself far enough to where none of them would realize that he was following them. They eventually enter a building that Luhan learn is made up of dance studios. There was a window separating Baekhyun and him. The window turns to be one way as he thought he made direct eye contact with the dancer’s boyfriend but he ends up looking away quickly after.

Chanyeol was already in the room by the time the others came along. He was woken up early from his sister who insisted him to do some of her errands with her. He agreed to her request, although being awfully tired, and managed to help her with grocery shopping.

He was strumming his guitar while sitting on the floor when the door finally opened to see his friends and a surprise addition of Baekhyun with them.

“Chanyeol, you’re here before us. Well that’s a first,” Kyungsoo greets the taller with a smile. “I invited Baekhyun to join us today.”

Baekhyun comes join Chanyeol on the floor getting close to the point where their arms touch. Baekhyun brings his legs to his chest and rest his head between his knees. His head was turn towards Chanyeol as he watches play the guitar some more. Baekhyun finds Chanyeol playing the instrument a great source of entertainment. He plays such beautiful music through the strings that Baekhyun often loses a sense of reality hearing the musical instrument.

“If I didn’t know any better, I would’ve thought the two of you were dating,” Jongdae blurts from the corner as he observes the two on the floor. Baekhyun blushes from the comment and looks away from Chanyeol. Baekhyun decides to watch Jongin, Yixing, and Zitao dance to Chanyeol’s random melody coming from his guitar. Jongdae and Kyungsoo lazily hums along. The group of friends manage to sync up to one another rather quickly. Baekhyun was shocked from the quick connection as he watches in amazement between the six friends.

“Okay, enough with the playing. I need to coach Baekhyun now,” Jongdae approach Baekhyun with his arms out. Baekhyun grabs onto his outstretched palms that pull him up the next moment. Jongin, Yixing, and Tao are still dancing, as if they are rehearsing without the need of music. Chanyeol puts the guitar down to observe Jongdae and Baekhyun for his vocal lessons.

Jongdae was able to teach a couple of new things that he didn’t consider before. Like how some vowels are easier to sing because they open the throat more than others, how to properly sing from his diaphragm, differentiating between singing from his diaphragm and his throat, what is head voice and chest voice. Jongdae eventually made him attempt a song that consist of mostly higher and longer notes.

“You’re doing great but there is a couple of things. First of all, you’re still singing from mostly your throat. When you’re holding that note, you shouldn’t be straining from up here,” Jongdae places his hands on his throat, “but from down here,” then moves to his stomach. “Also, have more confidence. Your voice box will close up if you’re nervous. Just pretend your performing for one person. Someone special,” Jongdae plays the song again.

Baekhyun closes his eyes as he starts. He attempts to calm his nerves by forgetting about possibly being judged from the vocal coach. He follows Jongdae’s advice of thinking of one person. The person he ends up thinking of was Chanyeol. He imagines Chanyeol radiantly smiling as he successfully hits the high notes, as if he is proud of him. His dimple would poke out as his white teeth shine beautifully. His eyes winkling in the corner. A smile that is so contagious that Baekhyun would automatically send one back.

When the song ended, he opens his eyes to meet up with Chanyeol. Just like Baekhyun had imagined, Chanyeol was proudly grinning at his progress as a singer. Just like Baekhyun had imagined, he sends one you back to Chanyeol.

Luhan has only been able to observe what Baekhyun was doing as the room seems to soundproof. From what he can see, it seems like Baekhyun is… singing? Since when did Baekhyun sing? The Baekhyun he knew as never been interested in singing and only about business. The kitten grin boy applauds at Baekhyun as his attention is taken away from Chanyeol. He smiles from what the boy said. Luhan simply watch Baekhyun continuously singing after the same boy would demonstrate something. Chanyeol sits in front of him with pure affection in his eyes. He wouldn’t tear his gaze away from Baekhyun for even one second. At one point, Baekhyun stops singing but he is now playing around the room as he dances with the three boys. The others were laughing at his silly nature as they started to get comfortable with him.

Luhan has never seen his best friend smile like that. He’s never seen him being his energetic. He dances, runs, and jokes around with the other. His smile was genuine. There was nothing holding him back from playing around. He was jealous that these newcomers made him happier than he had for twenty years.

He shifts his gaze at Chanyeol who still sits on the floor watching his friends and Baekhyun. Luhan starts to get full of rage as he begins to think irrationally. Chanyeol is the reason Baekhyun is becoming more like him, like a Neptune. He has never showed interest in singing before he came here. Baekhyun is probably blind from Chanyeol’s flirtatious advances as a possible romance, something Baekhyun has always desired. Baekhyun’s happiness is only artificial because Chanyeol is negatively influencing him to be like this.

His anger was disrupted when he heard his text notification go off. He looks at his phone to see that a message from Sehun saying that Minseok wanted him to come back. Luhan looks back into the room and sees Baekhyun reading from his phone. As he waves to others before heading to the door, Luhan begins to panic as he finds a place to hide. He enters the room across from him as Baekhyun hops out of the studio and down the long hallway. Luhan waits for the sound of the large exit doors before he leaves the building too.

He sees the others up ahead. Luhan thinks that Baekhyun looks like he fits in with Venus rather than that group of Neptune’s.

“Sorry for being late. I must’ve gotten lost trying to come back,” Luhan attempts excuses himself. Minseok says that it was okay before he leads the group to their next venue. Luhan glances at Baekhyun who walks next to him. The smile from before is now gone and what is left is a neutral expression. Something that Luhan is sadly used to. Baekhyun sense Luhan’s stare on him and turns to question him.

“Is there something wrong?” Baekhyun ask in hopes that Luhan will answer this time. Luhan stays a quiet a while longer before looking away from him.

“Nothing,” Luhan avoids the worrying question as he picks up his pace to walk with Sehun ahead of them.


	13. Surprise

Baekhyun sneaks away from the others again after another long day of traveling. Chanyeol messaged him asking to meet up with him afterwards. He waited for everyone to fall asleep which didn’t take much time. He walks through the hotel exit and sees Chanyeol waiting for him. He’s wearing a short sleeve shirt this time instead of his usual hoodie. Baekhyun notice that his guitar case is not his back this time but there was something unusual in his hands. Focusing on the square object, he approaches Chanyeol.

“What is that?” Baekhyun asks, pointing at the object in his hand. Taking a closer look, Baekhyun sees that it has tan straws that are woven together with a handle. There are flaps that is covering whatever is inside, what Baekhyun assumes, the basket.

“We’re going out today. I thought it would be nice to get some fresh air instead of learning today. I made us food,” Chanyeol smiles as he brings the basket closer to his face. “Let’s go,” Chanyeol grabs his hand and starts directing him to the undisclosed venue.

Baekhyun feels his cheeks beginning to flush as he constantly gazes at his enveloped hand. Chanyeol’s larger hands completely wraps around his. His hands were warm and fingertips calloused, probably from the string instrument. Baekhyun’s eyes follow a certain vein that runs up to his arms. He’s looking at his face. Chanyeol and Baekhyun tend to meet up when the sun setting. This time the sun is still shinning. The slightly tan skin gets hit with the yellow sun, giving such a glistening appearance from the natural light. His eyes express such a childlike joy where the smile on his face give him such youth. Baekhyun looks at their hands molded together. It’s feels right. It feels natural. It feels like it belongs. Baekhyun doesn’t want Chanyeol to let go.

Baekhyun rips his hands away from the realization. Chanyeol is from Neptune. He can’t be having these feelings for the taller male if they can’t be together. It would never end well. Baekhyun would only have his heart broken if he did fall for him.

Baekhyun regrettably looks into Chanyeol’s eyes. Chanyeol doesn’t look at him. He looks at the hand that Baekhyun harshly tore away from. His eyes expressed despair, disappointment, doubt. The smile before was gone. Baekhyun has never seen Chanyeol’s face so sad. Baekhyun wanted to say something but Chanyeol puts the hand in his pocket and continues to walk forward. He watches Chanyeol’s back with shoulders slouched and head down. He hears a crack coming from his heart. He catches up to Chanyeol to walk alongside him.

“Sorry. I should’ve known my boundaries,” Chanyeol quietly speaks from the tense atmosphere. Baekhyun doesn’t say anything. He glances back to his arm that was tucked to his side. Baekhyun is yearning for Chanyeol’s hands to wrap around his again. His hand starts to feel cold. He starts to feel cold. Putting his hand in his pocket, he sighs from the lost contact. They walk in silence as Baekhyun begins to feel the guilt take over.

Chanyeol stops before a hill. It was rather steep and a long distance from the top. Baekhyun gulps from the sight.

“It’s going to be a difficult climb so be careful,” Chanyeol nonchalantly says to him. Baekhyun nods and Chanyeol starts to climb. Baekhyun feels the incline already taking a toll after a couple of feet. Chanyeol is an arm length away. He starts to slow down and Chanyeol is getting further away. Before he could lose reach of Chanyeol, he grabs onto his hand that is no longer in the pocket.

Chanyeol pauses and looks to see the struggling Baekhyun. He laughs at the smaller male before hoisting him up closer to him. “Just hold onto me,” Chanyeol tightly grips his hand so he doesn’t fall down. The mood begins to feel lighter from the previous tense moment. Chanyeol tightly holding onto Baekhyun’s in hopes that he won’t pull away this time.

Baekhyun, on the other hand, doesn’t have any intention to. Chanyeol helps him all the way up to the top of the hill. He realizes that the walk was worth it from the new sigh in front of him. He sees the capital of Neptune shinning in the distance. The streets were still being illuminated from the natural light. The sun is still out but coming close to setting. He sees the horizon line to where the sun would be wishing the city a goodnight. Baekhyun turns around to marvel over Chanyeol’s home but notice that a blanket has been placed over the grass and food on top.

“I made alfredo. Your favorite according to Luhan,” Baekhyun feels the butterflies coming to his stomach. He’s rendered speechless as Chanyeol takes the container of warm alfredo out of the basket. The sight of Chanyeol sitting on the blanket as he pulls out containers full of fruits, various meats, rice, and two bottles orange juice. Why does this look like a date?

“I hope you’re okay with everything,” Chanyeol ask in doubt but feels certainty when Baekhyun flashes an incredible grin.

“It’s perfect,” Baekhyun whispers loud enough for Chanyeol to hear. He sits on the other side of the blanket with the food in between them.

“We still have time before the sun starts to set so take your time to eat,” Chanyeol hands him a fork and the container of alfredo. “It’s all yours. I made it myself. It’s probably not as good as my dad but I tried.”

Baekhyun twirls the fettuccine noddle onto the fork and begins to eat. The creamy white sauce has such a delectable taste with the perfectly cooked noodles. There so much flavor that exploded is his mouth. He moans from the delicious cuisine.

“It’s amazing. Have some,” Baekhyun twirls some noddle on the fork and brings it to Chanyeol’s face. Chanyeol opens his mouth and Baekhyun brings the fork in. It wasn’t until Baekhyun pulled the fork out of his mouth that he was feeding the taller. It feels so domestic that he feels the flush coming to his cheeks again.

“I can make a mean alfredo,” Baekhyun chuckles from the self-compliment as he continues to eat the alfredo. He only ends up eating half to give to Chanyeol who insisted that he should eat all of it. He devours the meat with the rice that Chanyeol also prepared. He is currently eating the assortment of strawberries, watermelons, and bananas as Chanyeol puts away the containers. Baekhyun watches the horizon line as the sun begins to set. An arm brush against his. Chanyeol scoots closer to him where they are now touching each other’s hip.

“It’s beautiful, isn’t it?” Chanyeol ask after the long silence. Baekhyun simply nods as he bits into the strawberry. “I come here whenever I’m stressed. This is my secret spot. Nobody knows this place except for me… and well you too,” Baekhyun looks over to Chanyeol. His hair was flowing with the wind as the previous yellow glow is placed with orange. He’s leaning onto his arms as his eyes stay glued to the sight in front of him.

“Why did you decide to take me here?” Baekhyun ask in curiosity.

Chanyeol shrugs from the question, “I don’t know. I felt like you would like it here,” he says without much thought. “You’re also someone I consider to be a special exception,” Baekhyun starts to feel the effects of the statement. His mouth begins to dry up and he ends up not being able to say anything back.

They sat in silence as the sun rest for the night. The sky goes from an orange to black. The city street is now being lit up from the street lamps and tiny twinkling lights. The air starts to get cooler and Baekhyun shivers from the temperature. He rubs his arms to create friction.

Chanyeol notices Baekhyun’s action and gets off the blanket. He grabs it to wrap it around Baekhyun and sits back to original spot but with the cold grass underneath his hands instead of the blanket.

Baekhyun feels his heart racing. He no longer feels cold since the blood running through his veins along with the blanket heats him up. He smiles from the gesture as the butterflies start to come back. Is this what it feels like to be in love? Baekhyun asks himself.

No! You are not in love with Chanyeol. This is wrong. This isn’t going to work. You’re only feeling this because you’re desperate for a relationship. You are not in love with Park Chanyeol. You are not in love with Park Chanyeol. You. Are. Not. In. Love. With. Park. Chanyeol. Baekhyun continuously convinces himself.

Baekhyun turns around to look over Chanyeol who’s on his elbows, also shivering. Now the moonlight shines against his skin. It feels like no matter what time of day it is, Chanyeol seems to always to be shining with whatever is in the sky. Yet to Baekhyun, the moon and the sun doesn’t compare to how marvelous Chanyeol is.

You are not in love with Park Chanyeol.

Baekhyun crawls over to where Chanyeol is laying. Baekhyun gesture for Chanyeol to stand up which he obeys. Baekhyun gets close enough to where he can smell the cologne that Chanyeol has on. It has a masculine scent of musky wood with a slight fruity smell. It had such a crisp and fresh aroma. He wraps the blanket over Chanyeol’s right shoulder as it still hangs off his left. Chanyeol grabs the other end to now rest his arm over Baekhyun. He naturally presses himself against the taller as Chanyeol brings into his arm. Baekhyun feels hot from the blanket, Chanyeol’s body heat, and from himself.

You are not in love with Park Chanyeol.

Baekhyun completely forgets about his surrounding as he only hears Chanyeol’s heart beating from the silent night. It’s beating faster than normal. Baekhyun felt comfort. He felt like he belonged in Chanyeol’s arms.

You are not in love with Park Chanyeol.

He didn’t know how it happened. It must’ve been from the serene surrounding, Baekhyun thought as Chanyeol wakes Baekhyun up from his brief slumber. Chanyeol gets up first before he reaches his hand out for Baekhyun to hold on to. He pulls him up when Baekhyun clasps his hand together with Chanyeol. They never let go.

You are not in love with Park Chanyeol.

Chanyeol helps him, once again, down the hill with their hands still tightly winded together. Baekhyun still holds onto the blanket around his shoulders as he cautiously climbs down the hill. Once they reach the bottom of the hill, Chanyeol lets go of his hand but quickly throws his arms around him. Baekhyun starts to feel concern as Chanyeol is wearing nothing but a thin white short-sleeve t-shirt.

“Aren’t you feeling cold?” he asks as he’s ready to hand Chanyeol the blanket. He declines.

“No. You’re all the warmth I need,” the same feelings reoccur again. Chanyeol smiles sweetly at him. His palms start to feel moist. He’s speechless. His head getting dizzy from the rush of emotions constantly coming and going throughout the day. Nonetheless, it was still a good feeling.

You are not in love with Park Chanyeol.

They walk closely to each other in silence to Baekhyun’s hotel. His warm cheeks never settling down but gets warmer. His butterflies never dying but flailing around even more. His palms never getting dry but getting sweatier. His heart never going steady but picking up the pace. His happiness never going away but increases.

You are not in love with Park Chanyeol.

You’re desperate. You just want to know what it’s like to be in a relationship. Chanyeol is just the closest thing you have to a possible romantic relationship. One that could never happen. You need to let go. You need to stop these feelings right now.

You are not in love with Park Chanyeol.

Baekhyun still attempts to convince himself in hopes that repeating it will make it come true.

They quickly approach the hotel in where Baekhyun hands the blanket to Chanyeol. They face each other to say their goodnights.

“I had fun today. Thank you for showing me your secret place,” Baekhyun says in a whisper to not disturb the quiet night. He’s playing with his long sleeves, pulling one sleeve down before switching to pull the other one.

“My pleasure,” there was a light fog that came out of Chanyeol’s mouth when he spoke. Baekhyun takes one last look at Chanyeol’s face before he has to say goodnight.

“Goodnight, Chanyeol.”

“Goodnight, Baekhyun,” before Baekhyun could turn around to enter the hotel, Chanyeol grabs onto his forearm to place a gentle kiss on his cheek.

His heart stops.

Chanyeol pulls away before leaving. Baekhyun watches Chanyeol’s back retreat away.

You are not in love with Park Chanyeol.

He enters the elevator and clicks his floor. He leans against the railing and softly touches his cheek. The same one Chanyeol kissed.

You are not in love with Park Chanyeol.

He thinks back to the entire day. The way Chanyeol can easily make him feel like some teenage girl with her first crush. Every little thing that he does just gets Baekhyun feeling cozy.

You are not in love with Park Chanyeol.

The way Chanyeol holds onto him throughout the day. How his tinier hands fit perfectly into his larger ones. How his smaller frame tucks underneath his arm. How sleeping snuggled next to him felt so natural. Felt so right.

You are not in love with Park Chanyeol.

The kiss on the check that was short, sweet, and light. It felt like time was frozen as Chanyeol presses his warm lips onto his cold cheek. Everything he felt that day intensified to something he was unable to control. One thing that felt different was that his heart completely stopped. When he felt time stop, so did his heart.

You are not in love-

Oh, who are you kidding?

You are in love with Park Chanyeol.

Baekhyun finally admits. The realization brings a smile to his face. He doesn’t think about the marriage law. He only thinks about Chanyeol. How happy he is. A weight from his shoulder gets lifted off. He feels like he’s on cloud nine.

The hotel elevator makes a ding. He walks through the long hallway in slow motion. He’s still happy. He enters the hotel room to only have everyone look in his direction. He still has a smile on his face. He’s about to greet everyone until he notices a new person in the room.

“Baekhyun, you’re finally back,” Yifan calls out to him. The smile on his face has now vanished as he starts to step back to reality.


	14. Betray

Baekhyun stands in shook from the sight of Yifan standing in the middle of the hotel room. Yifan smiles at him and approach him with the intent of giving him a hug. He wraps his arms around him but Baekhyun couldn’t lift his arms. They stay at his side. He felt weird. Out of place. Being in Yifan’s arms is noticeably different than being in Chanyeol’s. It lacked comfort. I lacked feelings. It lacked love. It was colder. Or maybe it just Baekhyun who felt cold in the inside. Yifan lets go of him but still holds onto his forearm.

“What are you doing here Yifan?” he asks.

“I came here to surprise you! Thought it should be time to get to know each other,” Yifan smiles but Baekhyun doesn’t. He nervously grins as he slowly pushes Yifan’s arms away. “Are you not happy to see me?”

Baekhyun couldn’t be honest. Yifan’s face was fearing rejection as he stares deeply into his eyes. The others were patiently waiting for his answer.

“Of course, I’m happy to see you,” Baekhyun lies through his teeth. Yifan doesn’t notice and huffs a sigh of relief. Baekhyun can see that Luhan didn’t buy it.

“I want to take you out tomorrow,” Yifan suggest. Baekhyun wanted to say no. He doesn’t want to risk anyone seeing him tomorrow with his fiancé. Not Kyungsoo. Not Jongin. Especially not Chanyeol.

“What a good idea, Yifan. I can release Baekhyun from tomorrow’s activities with us so he can spend it with you. He seems to know the area pretty well since he’s been exploring by himself. He could use some company,” Minseok says. Baekhyun wanted to say no. But, how can he?

“You’ve been traveling Neptune alone? Baekhyun, that isn’t safe,” he says in concern, “I’m here now so I can be your travel partner.” Yifan smiles as he returns to the main room in the hotel. Baekhyun still stood in shock before he moves over to the bed with heavy steps.

The night went by so quickly as Baekhyun sat on his bed in silence. He hasn’t said a single thing since he arrived back. His back is pressed against the wall. His knees pulled towards his chest and his head resting on his knees. The room is light and airy with Minseok, Sehun, and Joonmyun conversing with Yifan about Neptune. Luhan, on the other hand, sits next to Baekhyun. There was a clear division between the room.

He couldn’t sleep as Luhan gave up his spot for Yifan, who insisted to share a bed with him. He sits on the single chair in the room to stare out the window. The moon illuminates the dark sky. The light snores coming from the others disturbs the silent night. Baekhyun just stares longingly at the moon. He didn’t know how much time has passed until the moon was soon being replaced by the sun. The clock reads seven. The markets are beginning to open below him.

His phone rings.

 _From: Kyungsoo_  
Wed. 7:23AM  
Jongdae and I have time around noon to train you in singing. Interested?

He wanted to say yes. With Yifan here, it’s going to be difficult to meet up with the other Neptune residents. Yifan would be determined to follow him around while he is here.

 _From: Baekhyun_  
Wed. 7:31AM  
I can’t today. Have the whole day planned ahead of me. 

He dejectedly text back. He puts the phone down as he continues to watch the sun rise even higher in the sky. Eventually, the phone rings again with someone he didn’t know he needed right now.

 _From: Chanyeol_  
Wed. 9:12AM  
Hey! Just wanted to wish you a good morning!

He smiles from the sweet gesture and starts to finally feel restlessness finally taking its toll.  His eyes starting to close on themselves but he hears on the side someone who is finally waking up. He jolts awake from the sound. He turns around to see Luhan sitting up from his spot on the couch bed.

“You’re up early?” Baekhyun hums to question, not wanting to admit that he’s been awake throughout the night. Luhan gets off the bed to advance to Baekhyun. “Are you okay?”

“Why wouldn’t I be?”

“You were just really quiet last night.”

“I was just really tired. That’s all.”

Luhan knows that Baekhyun’s silent behavior is unlike him. When compared to what he saw that one day with the Neptune residents, the Baekhyun he is seeing is the complete opposite. He wasn’t as happy. He doesn’t joke around like he did before. He was calm and collected. His phone suddenly rings and Luhan looks over to see who the sender is.

 _From: Kyungsoo_  
Wed. 9:43AM  
Sorry to hear. Maybe next time?

Luhan doesn’t ask who Kyungsoo is or what is next time. He’s more worried of his unusual best friend. He notices that Baekhyun doesn’t bother to look at his phone.

“I think it’s good that Yifan is here. You should do your part as his fiancé to at least get to know him,” Luhan honestly admits but Baekhyun doesn’t retort anything back. He just sits and watches the morning sun.

Baekhyun remains in the same spot. He stays there when the others wake up. He stays there when they are prepared to go to a festival. He stays there when they leave. He still stays there when Yifan is the only one left to venture Neptune with him. It wasn’t until Yifan caught his attention to inform to change. He didn’t want to leave the comfort of the hotel room in fear of running into anyone here. He begrudgingly moves around to get ready for a dreadful day.

He strolls through the market with Yifan as they stare at all of the art. Baekhyun can’t focus on them like normal as he feels like his mind is somewhere else. He continuously glances every corner to see if he sees any of the Neptune. As they move to another section of the market, he notices that Yifan’s face scowls at the sight of the art pieces scattered along the pavement.

“I just don’t understand why someone would spend the rest of their lives doing this?” Yifan says suddenly. Baekhyun, whose attention was preoccupied, abruptly stops in his steps.

“What do you mean by that?”

“It’s not going to get them anywhere. Just sitting here doing art is going to make them nothing.”

“Don’t say that,” Baekhyun starts to defend Neptune. How could Yifan say something like that.

“It’s true. They’re putting too much effort into something that isn’t going to pay much. What’s the point of painting all of these when there’s no money coming out of it.”

“Because they want to express their art to other people.”

“For what? Nothing.”

“Money doesn’t always equal happiness, Yifan,” Baekhyun is fuming at the moment as Yifan keeps expressing his contradicting belief.

“It does when it’s the only means to live comfortably,” Yifan speaks so nonchalantly as if he doesn’t care that what he’s saying is going affect some people. As if he doesn’t care about the feelings of the citizen here. He’s just standing there looking at, what Baekhyun thinks is, a beautiful painting with disgust.

“These people are doing things that are making them happy that they don’t need money. There is so much creativity and imagination behind each piece and all you’re doing to trashing it because it’s not going to make them money.”

“Well it’s true, Baekhyun. It’s a waste of time and effort. Neptune is honestly a waste of a planet for occupations with people who doesn’t have anything better to do with their lives. Instead of working, they sit at home and paint.” Baekhyun is enraged from the insensitive comment. The lack of knowledge that Yifan has irritates his love for the beautiful big blue planet. Baekhyun is extremely hurt from what his fiancé had to say. “I don’t understand how this is affecting you, Baekhyun. It’s not like I’m implying it to you.”

Except that it does affect Baekhyun. The city constantly expressing beauty in so many different forms. Baekhyun will not stand there to just listen to Yifan spur so much hatred for the planet. Some of the nicest, interesting, and passionate people live here. He’s attacking Kyungsoo, Jongin, Yixing, Jongdae, Zitao. He’s attacking Chanyeol.

“Anyways, I’m bored. Are you hungry yet? I was researching this place that apparently has good Italian food,” Yifan doesn’t get Baekhyun’s opinion as he starts to drag him to a familiar direction. Baekhyun begins to pull back, as he starts to remember the familiar pathway, but Yifan is significantly stronger than him. Baekhyun is hoping that Yifan isn’t dragging him to what he thinks it is.

Unfortunately, Baekhyun was right. There in front of him was Chanyeol’s parents’ restaurant. Yifan opens the door and he begin observes the area to see if Chanyeol is waiting tables. He didn’t see the taller anywhere which means he might be in the kitchen. He makes eye contact with Chanyeol’s sister who seems to recognize him. Does Chanyeol talk about him with his family?

“Table for two,” Yifan says to his sister who looks away from him. She looks confused at the sight of the taller male but grabs the menu to place them at a secluded table. She leaves them to look through the menu while he looks nervously around. The dining room doesn’t look awfully busy where Chanyeol would need to help. He thought that he would go through this lunch scathing past Chanyeol.

“What can I get for you?” he spoke to soon when he heard the voice the makes his heart race. This time it isn’t from affection but out of anxiety. He doesn’t look up. He hopes that Chanyeol wouldn’t notice him.

“I would like to have your seafood linguine,” Yifan closes the menu, “he will have the same,” Yifan orders for him. Baekhyun is shocked from Yifan’s controlling behavior to choose whatever he wanted to eat. Forgetting about being undercover, Baekhyun peeks up from the menu.

“Excuse me?”

“Baekhyun?” he panics. He looks Chanyeol in the eyes in his usual waiter attire.

“You two know each other?” Yifan asks. He panics even further as he now feels caught in the middle. He looks between the two males who watches his every move. He doesn’t know how to respond.

“He’s just someone I’ve meet once or twice,” Baekhyun quickly says. He tells Yifan the truth but not so much a lie. Chanyeol looks upset from the lack of acknowledgement. He’s probably thinking that I don’t even think of him as a friend, Baekhyun thought.

“You shouldn’t be talking with strangers, Baekhyun. I’m Yifan, Baekhyun’s fiancé,” he takes out his hand to shake with Chanyeol’s.  

Baekhyun wants to hide. To run away. To be anywhere else but here. Chanyeol looks at him with eyes of anger. He senses rage. Disappointment. Despair. Betrayal. Baekhyun wanted to say something but the words get stuck in his throat. Chanyeol tears his eyes away from him and speaks to Yifan.

“I’m Chanyeol,” Chanyeol writes in his check pad. He takes the menus and leaves the table without shaking Yifan’s hand. He watches his back retreating away as his heart starts to feel heavy.

“He’s kind of rude. You shouldn’t be hanging around people like that,” Yifan putting his hand on the table and takes a sip from his water, “he’s also a Neptune. You shouldn’t be around him to begin with,” Yifan continues to insult Chanyeol while Baekhyun stays quiet throughout all of it.

Baekhyun begins to feel the weight of the situation. Chanyeol has never looked at him like that. The look of someone who is heartbroken. He fidgets with his fingers as he attempts to spot Chanyeol in hopes to talk to him. He spots Chanyeol going to hallway where the bathrooms are. He quickly excuses himself to hopefully catch up to the taller. He slams the bathroom door open to see Chanyeol washing his hands, eyes dark as he looks at him. He wipes his hand on his apron and plans to leave. Baekhyun closes the door behind and presses his full weight onto the door.

“Get out of my way, Baekhyun.”

“Not until you listen to me.”

“What’s there to listen to? You had a fiancé all along and you dragged me around like some dead rat.”

“That’s not true, Chanyeol!”

“Then tell me what is true? Why didn’t you tell me you had a fiancé all along?”

“Because I forgot about him.”

“You forgot? How could you forget? You were just letting me fall for you when you had another person waiting for you at home. You are cruel, Baekhyun.”

Chanyeol was falling for him. His emotions get mixed around. One hand, he’s joyous of hearing that his feeling isn’t one sided. Meanwhile the other hears a crack in his heart that he had to hear Chanyeol’s feeling in a moment of rage.

“Chanyeol, please-”

“Honestly, I don’t want to hear your excuses, Baekhyun. Shouldn’t you be dining with your fiancé?”

Baekhyun feels the tears brimming his eyes as he couldn’t get the words out. He wanted to tell him that he fell for him too. That he likes him a lot more than he should. That he returns Chanyeol’s feeling. Still nothing comes out.

“When’s the wedding? Don’t forget to invite me,” he pushes Baekhyun away from the door as he was about to leave, he pauses. Baekhyun gets hopeful. “On second thought, never mind, I don’t think I would be able to take on the heart break,” Chanyeol leaves. The bathroom is still. The tears from before comes out. Baekhyun leans against the bathroom wall as breathing becomes difficult for him. Whenever he manages to steady his breathing, the irregular rates would occur again.

He doesn’t know how long he stood in the bathroom for. Must’ve not been long since Yifan still didn’t have food in front of him when he returns. Baekhyun tries to uphold his appearance by getting rid of the evidence of his tears. His cheeks were no longer tear streaked. His eyes weren’t as red and nose not running.

Chanyeol arrives with the food in his hand shortly after. He doesn’t give him a smile like how he normally would. “Here’s your order,” Chanyeol puts Yifan’s seafood linguine down first. He places Baekhyun’s plate but it isn’t seafood linguine. He bitterly smiles at the plate of alfredo.

“He didn’t order alfredo,” Yifan face contorts to confusion as he looks at the plate.

“I went to the back and told them that I wanted alfredo instead,” Baekhyun rebuts. Chanyeol leaves after mumbling for them to enjoy their meal.

Baekhyun looks down at the plate and feels the tears slowly coming back. To Baekhyun, it almost seems like this the last time Chanyeol would do anything for him, like a parting gift, as if this is the last thing he’ll offer him. It’s silly to think that a plate of alfredo could have that much meaning but Baekhyun can’t help to think of that way.

Is this fate’s cruel way of tearing them apart?


End file.
